


No reasons why - Mii2 AU

by chogiwateez



Category: JimmyTommy - Fandom, Why R U, mii2
Genre: M/M, mii2 - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:34:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 55,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24278197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chogiwateez/pseuds/chogiwateez
Summary: By no fault of his own, he became a known contract killer. A new edition to a superior group. Tommy Sittichok was first just known as a psychopath but he was followed and recognised and soon landed the job of having to assassinate Jimmy Karn, the acquainted enemy.When he meets him, he tries his best to ignore his feelings. Because Psychopaths cannot have more than one feeling.
Relationships: Mii2 - Relationship, jimmy/Tommy
Comments: 29
Kudos: 73





	1. Nobody would ask so nobody knows.

**Author's Note:**

> Mii2 = JimmyTommy Why R U ship

_Bangkok, Monday morning.  
_

Nobody ever asks you, how you are feeling. When you’re a psychopath. Because it is a known fact that they are emotionless and feel nothing except immense pain. Not remorse. Pain. From existence. 

Tommy Sittichok wasn’t a well known psychopath, in terms of known to the public because every time he followed his urges late at night to kill, he would always act as if he was being hunted. As if every time he left his own ramshackle accommodation, there would be someone following him. 

That morning, as Tommy’s back resided in a monotone dull pain from lifting rubbish bags containing dismemberment, he left his home dressed in all black with his infamous black beanie and mask on, in case anyone sought to recognise him.   
  


As it occurred to him in his late teens, when he came to terms with the fact that he wasn’t a sufferer it was to be instilled in his daily life, he was human as well he decided to do the everyday natural things. An example was what he had to do that very morning, attend the convenience store to purchase necessities. 

Tommy entered the more than half lively shop, where the slam of entrance door caused the half asleep worker to wake up. He came to collect the very things he was running low on. For instance razor blades, bread knives, rubbish bags and bleach. Not forgetting milk and bread obviously. 

As the worker scanned the items, Tommy glared at them with his intimidating straight face which caused them to speed up and announce the total in a panicked voice. 

“When will the good quality razor blades be back in stock?” Tommy queried, in his deep but fierce voice as he payed the worker. 

“I don’t understand?” The worker questioned back, handing him back the change. 

”These razor blades are cheap but they go blunt very quickly. They’re not that good f-for the chin and neck, you see?” He mentioned, gathering the plastic bags his items were in. “Everyone has different necks don’t they?” 

He couldn’t await a baffled reply from the worker so he left the store in quite a hurry and began to head in the direction back to his ramshackle where he hibernated like a nocturnal predator. 

But as he was heading home, he could feel a sudden change in atmosphere. A strange one. Tommy paused in his tracks in the middle of the sidewalk. Cautiously, he reached into his trouser pocket where he claimed a sharp pocket knife from. Clutching it in his hand, as if he knew he would need it, he slowed his pace down as he continued. 

One of the many skills he acquired was stealth and awareness. Tommy closed his eyes to concentrate, and then he felt it. That crunch of a stranger’s footprint creeping up behind him. 

In a split second after he paused again, he threw his bags down on the ground and exclaimed loudly. He twirled to form a pounce stance, where he aimed the pocket knife. Right to the stranger’s neck. 

  
“Who the fuck are you and why are you following me?” He snarled, edging the pocket knife dangerously close to the person’s neck in broad daylight. 

”Put the knife down Tommy.” The stranger raised his hands up, unaffected by Tommy’s threatening looks. 

“How the fuck do you know my name?” Tommy hissed back, ignoring his orders. 

“I’ll explain everything, if you just let me go.” The stranger attempted to remain calm, however the other became increasingly irritated. 

After a while, Tommy let go of the man as he had a feeling he was wasting his time. “Don’t bother. Just fucking leave me alone.” Tommy growled back, attempting to grab his shopping and continue walking home. 

“I know what you are.” 

This exact sentence caused him to once again pause. Forming his hands into fists as he turned back around to face him.   
  


No one knew what he was. Nobody dared to ask. Even if anyone asked, would he even tell. Everything he did, he did in the dark. So the man was intrigued to know, what he knew. 


	2. Tommy; the small backstory

Puberty hit Tommy Sittichok hard. Because that was when the first signs of his personality disorder began. He became aggressive, antisocial and would frequently hallucinate and have violent thoughts. 

His parents would be frequently called in by the school and were told of all the “bad behaviours” adolescent Tommy showed. After being cursed at many times, he kept telling them that even he had no clue what was wrong with him. And after misunderstanding several times, they decided to send him to “behaviour school.” A very private, strict academy where those with learning disorders and antisocial behaviour were sent to. 

There, he attended regular therapy sessions because at that time he was confused and frustrated. He didn’t understand why he was there, why he wasn’t outside playing or hanging around with friends like a normal teenager.

But till this day, he was grateful he had w therapist who made him realise that just because there was no treatment to his behaviour doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t control it.

In a way, he was grateful his parents did send him there because he learnt a lot, he learnt what he knew now. He learnt that nobody is normal, everyone has their own struggles to deal with and his was to deal with his psychopathic tendencies. 

It was Summer when he was officially signed out of the behaviour school, to which the just turned 15 year old Tommy was then freed to the outside world. Ecstatic that he could finally return home. 

However, when he actually did return home. Abandoned. Completely empty. No signs of life anywhere. Untouched. Just like Area 51. 

The now desolate 15 year old Tommy was stranded on his own. He returned back to the behaviour school where he stayed up until he was 18 when he was old enough to work. 

When the workers and his therapist tried contacting his parents they reached a dead end, but an anonymous neighbour told them one day that they left because they were ashamed. 

Ashamed? 15 year old Tommy questioned in his mind when the therapist repeated it back to him. in his eyes, there should be nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone has their own problems to deal with. 

His just has to be dealt with in the most violent but subtle way possible. 

Which is what the Tommy now sticks by. Being true to himself but subtle due to the danger of being caught. 

That was one of the reasons he was intrigued by the stranger who claimed he knew him. So he came very close to him and threatened “and I know what you’ll be. Dead.” 

The stranger chuckled and took a step back “if its from your breath then sure I probably will be dead.” He continued chuckling as the other wielded the knife back at him, causing him to back down. 

”Okay I’m serious now.” The stranger raised his hands, now in a serious tone. “I know what you are Tommy. And that’s why I need you.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“That’s right. I’ll explain more if you come with me.” 

It didn’t take that long for the other to reject and threaten again. But the stranger continued to intrigue him and persuade him. As Tommy’s curiosity got to him, he agreed and followed the man to a very derelict building. 

That reminded him of the abandoned home. 

There were a pile of dusty cardboard boxes in the middle of the room to which the man sat on as he began to explain. “I didn’t want to explain out there in case anyone heard.” 

“Just get to the point so I can fucking leave.” Tommy scowled, folding his arms impatiently. 

“D-do you have to still carry the knife?” The stranger pointed at Tommy’s right hand which still held his pocket knife from earlier. 

“Just in case you decide to molest me or something. Now carry on.” 

A bit dumbfounded, the man shrugged and finally began the explanation “I know that you’re a psychopath. I’ve seen your skills and that’s why I need you. I need someone like you to join my team of contract killers.” 

“You’ve noticed me?” Tommy questioned, suspiciously. He began leaning against the rotten walls “what’s my main equipment I use to choke someone or an animal?” 

“You use dead metal wires to strangle and then you pierce the neck with your razor blades. Triple strength razors.” The stranger spoke back, sighing. “You dont have to test me.” 

“That’s only with some animals or people. Everyone has different necks.” Tommy smirked, quite bodly. Causing the other to seem quite taken aback by his arrogance. 

“I remember you quoting that as you left that shop. Anyway, you interested? It’s good pay and you get to use your knowledge and skills.” 

When everything was agreed upon, the stranger who was now known as Max alerted him to meet with him on the Friday coming for his first assignment.   
  


5:15pm 

Tommy arrived back at his ramshackle, exhausted with his shopping. After organising his kitchen cupboard filled with many different sorts of knives, he went out to the back garden and pondered whilst the nauseous smoke from his cigarette filled the next door neighbors garden. 

He was curious to know when Max started following him and for how long? So he could notify the cops. That was his own joke he created and chuckled at in his mind. But after putting out the cigarette he let out a repressive sigh and headed back into his home. 

If I could be a psychopath and not be lonely at the same time, life would be better wouldn’t it? Tommy huffed, beginning to shuffle through the archives of the things he harmed in the cabinets of his bedroom. 

Worthlessness. Loneliness. Depression. 

Whoever said psychopaths don’t feel these things are liars. 


	3. Joys of a psycho

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small warning: this chapter contains sensitive material some may find quite disturbing.

_Friday morning,2:00am_

He was the happiest when he was out killing. Since Monday, he had it in his mind who he was planning to kill. A very old acquaintance from school who he remembered used to bully Tommy before he hit puberty. 

Even though that was a long time ago, he held grudges due to the reason that the kid decided to bully him. All those days, he tracked the man’s movement and just as it hit Friday morning, Tommy snuck up on him and stabbed him multiple times in the back. 

As the man collapsed to floor and spat out clots of blood, Tommy breathed and crouched by him with a wicked grin on his blood splattered face. Before, adding his finishing touches. The knife blades pierced the man’s chest violently, enabling a gunge of puss along with warm blood to flow onto the damp grass of the forest. 

Of course, when it was clear to Tommy that the man was no longer breathing, he knew he couldn’t just leave him. So he propped him up and dragged him across the pitch blackness of the woods to a bonfire pit. Which burst into flames as he threw the lifeless bleached body onto it, cackling at the sizzling noises and crackles. 

After the first few times he murdered human bodies, he memorised how long it would take for a body to disintegrate or rot in the ground. 

Collecting the ashes afterwards in a clear glass bottle, he smirked to himself with sheer arrogance and heading back home with one hand carrying the flood stained blade. 

The joy of ending a persons life like that was what encouraged Tommy to continue with his behaviour, as the only time he truly felt happy was when he was harming someone, something or himself. But as soon as all that was over, he would go back to feeling depressive and lonely. He felt trapped in a cycle of despair, where the only few moments he was happy was when he gave into his urges to murder and straight after he feel miserable again. 

However, this time when he killed that acquaintance. He felt a bit odd. Not his usual happiness and glee like a child left alone in a shop full of knives. 

And his excuse was that he was probably “just tired.” 

Later that day, he received an anonymous, but he knew of who it was, message telling him the whereabouts of the meeting place for his first assignment.   
  


Even though he agreed to the job, Tommy was still doubtful of whether it was the right thing for him to do in terms of what he wanted. It was the thought of money that provoked him to agree, but deep down he didn’t necessarily want the job permanently. And he intended to let Max know that.

As the sun shone bright that afternoon, he was unaffected by it and grabbed his gear before putting on his mask as he left his house. 

He was familiar with the reputation of the area where he was supposedly going to meet Max as looking much more rough than his own which was one of the reasons he decided to keep his pocket knife in his back pocket for swift action in self defence. 

Approaching a derelict building site, Tommy stopped outside to double check the address before apprehensively entering the cluttered property with mass amounts of dust and brickwork everywhere.   
  


The man was right to be apprehensive, because as he stepped on the cemented floor, he was unexpectedly tackled behind him by a henchman. There was less struggle than the actual man who grabbed him thought, as Tommy struck his arm with his pocket knife and leaps backwards, still aiming it at him. 

”Hey, hey!” He heard a voice yelling from behind, swiftly he turned around and grabbed the other henchmen who attempted to tackle him. 

However, the voice wasn’t coming from the large man to which he noticed, as soon after watching them both struggle. A shadow appeared from behind, Max’s shadow. 

“Let go of him.” Max ordered, calmly as if it was a normal thing to be randomly attacked out of nowhere. The second large man let go of Tommy, giving him dirty looks as he went to go assist his partner who was complaining over the strike wound on his muscly arm. 

“What the fuck was that?” Tommy cursed, breathlessly brushing the dust off of his black T-shirt before glaring at Max. 

“A test of reflexes and strength.” Max replied back, folding his arms quite authoritatively.   
  


“Whatever. I think you need to test your men first before you test me.” He shrugged, taking a cigarette and lighter out of his pocket. As he placed the cigarette in his mouth, Max waved his hand in front. 

”Tommy this is a no smoking area.” He warned, attempting to snatch the lighter from him. 

irritated, he removed the cigarette and sighed “just tell me the assignment or whatever.” 

“Less of the attitude.” Max glared back fiercely, he waited for Tommy’s attention before continuing “and also, meet Park and Poppy, the henchmen brothers.” 

Turning around to see one man bandaging the other gently, Tommy burst out sniggering offensively “those two? Who’s the one I made cry?” 

“I’m not fucking crying.” The largest brother who was sat on the brick wall hissed back, glaring. 

“That’s Park.” Max sighed, rolling his eyes at the two before paying his attention back at the psychopath in front of him. “I have more contract killers but they’re out on another job right now. I’ve left this one for you because it’s special.”   
  


Max ushered Poppy, who had finished helping his brother, towards him and whispered in his ear. Causing the other to rush to the other side of the building site and back with a marked file. 

“This is your assignment.” Max handed the file to the now eager Tommy who opened it up straight away. 

After having some time to read, he smirked back at him in arrogance. “That’s it? Just one person?” 

“Well, yeah.” Max shrugged, surprised by his reaction. “He’s not just any person.” 

“What is he then?” 

“He’s impossible. That’s what he is.”   
  


The answer itself caused the amused arrogant Tommy to burst out chuckling but he stopped when Max claimed another file of Poppy. 

He then gestured Tommy to follow him to the other side where there was less dusty table where in anticipation, he read the file again and then displayed the pictures within the second enclosure. Pointing to them sternly.

  
“This is Jimmy Karn Kritsanaphan, a well known sociopath who you have to kill.” 


	4. The ‘Paths crossed each other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: contains violence.

“Do you know what the main difference is between a sociopath and a psychopath?” 

After the pictures of the assignment were placed back into the file, Max moved to a different spot in the middle of the building as Tommy followed and leaned on the brick wall where the henchmen brothers were. 

“Oh you’re asking me?” Tommy questioned, after noticing Max’s anticipating stare. “Never met one before.” 

He continued to explain “Sociopaths are actors. They play someone they’re not and in this instance Jimmy Karn plays the sweet, sincere innocent guy. Which is why he’s so impossible. He tricks others into thinking he’s a nice guy and then when the time is right he shows his true colours and kills them.”

As he listened half heartedly, he shrugged and scoffed in response “pfft, I don’t think anyone is nice. It will take a lot to trick me.” 

“You say that, but you’ve never met him before. He tricked a valuable member of my team and killed him. Ever since then we’ve been rivals, Ive been trying to make him pay and he’s been trying to do the same with his own contract killer agents.”   
  


Holding the files, he reread the information on the target and sighed “when do I do it?” 

“He supposedly has an appointment with some clients who want drugs because he on the side he deals with drugs too. Take him down before the clients show up and take down anyone else who may see you.” Max ordered. “I will send a lookout with you just in case.”

Tommy nodded “and how will I be paid?” 

“Send me evidence that he’s deceased and I’ll pass on the payment. Sound hard?”   
  


The psychopath shook Max’s hand before allowing the other to leave to talk to his other agents. The file contents had very little information on his target Jimmy Karn, most of it was vague but Tommy was too ignorant to find out more about him. To him, it was just a job. Find the target, hunt him, kill him and then get paid. Similar to a bounty hunter. 

Based on what Max has also told him, he was expecting him to be quite tough but mischievous since he dealt drugs as well as having a contract agency too. He had a rough idea of what sociopaths were like, not just from the explanation but also because he learnt about them at the behaviour school. 

Everyone fears the sociopath more because they blend into society quite normally but their minds are full of the most disturbing evil thoughts that rarely get acted on in public.   
  


Tommy was actually intrigued to see his behaviour and compare it to his own and to what he had learnt. 

But what he didn’t realise was that with Jimmy Karn, he was more than intrigued. 

Late night, approx 11pm. 

For normal members of society, the streets of this particular province in Bangkok crawled with the most frightening, disturbing people to want to bump into in the dark. Alleyways were always crowded full of amateur criminals hoping to get away with their stashes of drugs.   
  


Max alerted Tommy’s phone as he was walking down a hilly path all suitably dressed for his particular job with the address of the appointment. On his way there, he met up with the backup he sent as well. 

“Didn’t change your clothes I see?” Park attempted small talk with the miserable man, who just gave him a dirty look before walking off. 

“Why, is it part of the fucking job description?” Tommy scowled after a few minutes passed and the henchmen caught up with him. 

“Wow you have an attitude don’t you? Fucking hell.” Park exclaimed, feeling slightly intimidated by Tommy who decided he was too busy concentrating for small talk. 

“So have you met this Jimmy before?” He let out a sigh after a while, as they reached the apparent meeting place that was deserted at that moment. 

“No but I heard from one of our agents he’s nasty piece of work he is. So fucking rude and mischievous.”   
  


Park searched the area and found where he had parked his car and silently but swiftly him and Tommy crept to the car and got inside. The car had blackout windows which meant that people from outside or around couldn’t see in but they could view out, quite suitable for their situation on the lookout for Tommy’s target. 

“So far its clear.” Park mumbled, checking his car mirror. He began to pay attention to his looks rather than outside, which caused Tommy to glare at him. 

On first impressions, Tommy didn’t like him. But then again, he doesn’t like people anyway. 

Although, his second thought he had about him was that he was fucking weird. And the wait in the car for the target to appear was the longest time he had ever spent in a car with a person for a long time. Which was incredible really considering the fact that the last time he was in a car was when he was younger in his parents car. 

It was long and, in his opinion, one of the most horrific experiences of his life. Because he got so bored he had to watch Park and man, Tommy pondered to himself, his actions were so questionable.   
  


For instance, he was forced to watch Park eat a whole sandwich that he found in the glove compartment. And when Tommy asked “what the fuck was in that sandwich?” 

Park replied “I don’t know it’s been in there for 3 days.” 

Even thinking about that right now would make Tommy gag. And this man watched bodies he murdered decompose for a living. 

That dreadful experience was over when Tommy spotted movement on the left side of the car. After attempting to let the other know, who fell fast asleep a few moments ago, he gave up and entered outside the car on his own. 

I don’t need fucking backup. I do it on my own anyway. Tommy thought to himself, removing his different sized pocket knife from back trouser pocket. 

As stealthily as possible, the psychopath crept to the right side of the street where he hid behind a shop building. As it was dark, it was visually hard to tell if the man who had just appeared was Jimmy or not. 

The man was tall and dressed in all black wearing a distinctive Adidas hoodie and a face mask. Tommy observed him reach into his pocket for his phone and call someone on it. After trying multiple times the man gave up and sighed, turning around and back and forth. 

Tommy was certain that that man was Jimmy, but it took him a few more minutes of observing before he actually made up the decision in his head that it was his target. Just as he was about to creep up from his hiding spot, there was a sudden loud noise that caused the man to leap from his waiting spot. The loud pulsating noise was a car alarm, and as it was sounding, a large gang all dressed the same in all black surrounded the target. 

“Fuck!” Tommy cursed quietly to himself, he crouched down and crept out of his hiding place towards the surrounding gang. 

As he moved closer he heard the confrontation, assuming that the gang that was surrounding was also after Jimmy for some reason. 

At the right moment, Tommy edged closer to one of the members and stabbed him all the way through his chest before striking across his neck. 

He stood up properly as the gang noticed one of their members was bleeding to death on the floor, and they soon turned their attention to him. 

Tommy, smirking menacingly, waited for the other members to come at him before he aimed his sharp knives back at their chest fatally stabbing them. He grinned as the pile of twitching bodies leaked blood everywhere on the floor. He leapt over them and continued to fight, viciously stab, penetrate and wound everyone who care to attack him. Dodging the near punches and cackling at the near misses. 

As he was getting closer to his actual target, he witnessed one of the members of the gang of about 20, instead direct their attention to Jimmy who removed his hood and joined in the fight. 

“No. That’s my fucking target.” Tommy growled under his breath, he rushed past the bodies on the floor. 

The target was now losing the fight they began, as suddenly he collapsed onto the floor with blood dripping from his mouth. As the attacker stole the weapon, which was a baseball bat, from him. 

Unexpectedly, as the attacker was about to aim another hit at the quivering man, Tommy leapt in front of him and kicked his kneecaps quite confidently, causing the gang member to crash to the ground. He continuously and violently began kicking his stomach. Stomping on his abdomen excitedly. He then snatched the baseball bat off of him and then beat the man, along with the others who were struggling to survive, to death with it. 

Until the head of the opponents cracked open and began leaking blood onto the now blood stained bat Tommy tirelessly chucked back onto the floor. 

Out of breath, he turned around holding his bloody knife. The target was still conscious, attempting to sit up. 

Tommy removed his face mask for the first time, sweating uncontrollably, as he trudged closer to him on the ground. 

“T-Thanks...” The man breathlessly whispered, beginning to cough out small blood clots. 

All of a sudden, as he was crouched down watching him, he felt a flush of underwhelming feelings. Like something was holding him back, from assassinating his target. 

It was the right moment for it, as the beaten up man was about to gain his breath back. 

But as he watched him, Tommy had felt like he had lost all of his strength. For the first time ever, he didn’t feel like killing. Maybe it was just an overwhelming feeling of tiredness because he had just beaten up an entire gang.

”Tommy??” He woke up out of his daydream when he heard someone call for him, he got up and turned around to see who it was. 

And when he turned back round. The target fled off in a flash. Leaving behind a pool of blood that mixed with the gang’s bloody portrayal. 

“Fuck!” Tommy cursed our life this time, holding his hands on his head in anguish. 

“What..what the fuck is this??” Screeched Park who approached Tommy, astonished by the amounts of unconscious and dead bodies that were scattered. 

Tommy groaned in anguish, squatting on the floor with his whole head in his hands. 

Instead of killing the target. 

He fucking saved his life instead. 


	5. The ‘Paths crossed each other pt2

Devastated. He was devastated. That was the mood he was in that whole night afterwards. In the morning, he then woke up in a state of denial. Debating in his head, questioning everything. The night was a disaster. 

Park reported to Max the following day of what happened, including the fact that he cried in anguish straight away after. Since it was reported that Tommy has injured and killed a lot of the gang members, Max was merciful that at least he attacked someone. 

So he decided to throw him a bone. Another chance at assassinating Jimmy Karn.   
  


_Wednesday_. 

Tommy was instructed to attack in the evening, where daylight was settling down slowly. But not in an actual street, instead in his contract killers warehouse. Because as Max quoted “why not kill him in his favourite place of all time?”

Tommy scoffed at this thinking it was too kind. But honestly, he was in the worst mood and had been since that night. He couldn’t let go of his mistake. He couldn’t let go of the fact that he even made a mistake. 

First of all, it was completely embarrassing for him as it was his first mission as a contract killer, his first ever one and he knew that Max was expecting him to be skilful and clean. 

But he messed up. Why? 

Jimmy was semiconscious lying on the ground. Vulnerable. 

It was his chance. And he messed it up. 

Why? Why?? Tommy screamed inside his small frustrated mind. 

This time. There’s no room for mistakes. 

_7pm_

The weary psychopath insisted on no backup as he argued that he ruined his concentration. By calling Park a “fucking nasty ape”, this made Max threaten him to not ever demand anything from him.   
  


He sent 2 backups. The henchmen brother, Park and Poppy. 

  
As irritated Tommy was trudging down the street to begin his mission and was about to turn the corner into the discrete alleyway, he saw Park and Poppy try to usher him into the same car on that night again with him, and immediately, without looking, gave them both the middle finger.   
  


When he entered the alleyway, he soon began to crouch cautiously. Creeping from dumpster to dumpster, he climbed onto the last one and leapt over the metal fence to continue his search for his warehouse.   
  


Following the small path, he groaned when he realised. He was in the wrong fucking alleyway. As a dead end stopped him in his tracks. 

Fucking hell, what the fuck is wrong with me?   
  


Tommy sighed exasperatedly, standing up straight to find the exit. When he reached the end of the block, he noticed someone familiar. 

Observing them from behind a building wall, he saw the distinctive Adidas hoodie being worn again. 

It was Jimmy Karn. 

He observed him just walking normally across the street, not waiting around for anyone. Meaning he was not likely to be surrounded by a gang again. 

Tommy was about to move from his hiding place when unexpectedly, he witnessed the man remove his hood to reveal his face. He...looks different?   
  


That night he wore a mask plus it was really dark then... 

Is that really Jimmy Karn? 

Now Tommy had his head full of doubts, especially since he it has been a long time since he saw the pictures of him in the files. As he was observing, he saw that Jimmy Karn looked way younger than he thought he was going to be. 

But age shouldn’t bother me, right? Tommy contemplated. 

However, he managed to put his contemplation to a halt. Remembering the reason he was there, because of his job. He couldn’t mess up that time. 

To avoid attracting attention, Tommy waited until the man was out of his sight before he sped stealthily across the street and then began to slow down his pace when he caught up to him. 

  
In his mind, everything slowed down along with himself. The streets were now empty, only him and his target. Who he now concentrated on, whilst he closed his eyes and reached into his back pocket for his larger sized pocket knife. As he breathed healthily through his mask, he opened his eyes.   
  


The pocket knife opened; he lifted it up aiming to swipe his target’s back with it.   
  


However, unexpectedly, just when Tommy was about to pounce on his target, he then turned around rapidly and punched him in the face. Causing Tommy to fly back and land on the hard pavement. 

“What the fuck?!” Tommy screeched, in shock. He collected his knife again and shot back up, running towards the tall man who tried to dodge his strikes. 

Although, he caught him on the arm, causing the other to groan in anguish. Before his target could fight back, Tommy pounced on him, stabbing him in his arm as deep as he could gouge. 

Ripping the bloody knife out of his arm, Tommy held it quivering quite nervously. Something was wrong. He felt different. As he watched the tall man clutch at his wound in agony, he felt lifeless. There was no thrill. No rush of happy feelings.   
  


Instead, he felt even more miserable than before. 

Sweat began to drip down the nervous psychopath’s face causing his face mask to half come off his ear, revealing his face to the target. 

“I-Its you!” He pointed, with his non injured arm in shock. ”You..saved me that d-day.” 

Tommy couldn’t reply back in time. He simply couldn’t. His head was just so full of thoughts, nervous thoughts. Questions. 

“You’re Jimmy Karn, right?” Tommy asked, little bit out of breath after everything.   
  


“Yeah, what? You’re here to kill me?” Jimmy snarled back, irritated as he tried to cover the whole in his right arm where blood spewed out of. 

Ignoring all the doubts in his mind, Tommy managed to pull aim the knife back at him. Causing the other to jerk and raise his hand. 

“Fine, fucking kill me then!” Jimmy growled back at him exasperatedly, which made Tommy impulsively strike his face with the knife fiercely.   
  


He stood up after that, still aiming the knife back at him. “This is from Max.” Tommy snarled back menacingly, pulling an arrogant grin before aiming a violent kick in his stomach. 

“W-w-wait..” Jimmy wheezed in agony, holding onto his stomach where it was kicked. “Y-you..Max sent you?”

”Yeah what about it?” 

“Well...” Jimmy sat up holding onto his arm and stomach, breathing slowly but heavily. “It-it’s just that..aren’t you a bit too short to be a killer?” He suddenly began laughing, along with wheezing in pain at the same time. 

“Who’s fucking short?!” Tommy screeched, threatening to kick him in the stomach again. 

“N-no! Just fucking kill me!” Jimmy pleaded in agony, raising his hand up again. “Not Max...please...they’re always after me.”

”It’s what you deserve you fucking sociopath!” Aggressively, he raised his knife again crouching near to his chest. 

“I’m not a sociopath!” Jimmy yelled back, squealing at the threatening look he gave to him. 

Come on already...why can’t I fucking kill him?? The psychopath groaned in his head. 

Just as he finally made his mind up, he lowered the knife close to Jimmy’s chest aimed at his heart. When suddenly, another gang appeared from behind him, causing Jimmy to squeak and point. 

“It-it’s them again!” Jimmy squeaked, tugging onto Tommy’s T-shirt instantly. Which made Tommy furiously turn around to see them, standing in a line. “Hurry up and kill me please! I don’t want them to get me!” He pleaded, painfully sitting up as he clutched onto his T-shirt. 

It was then and there when he lost it. When Tommy lost his strength. As soon as he felt the hands of Jimmy reach his chest, and feel his heart. That began to pound at that moment. 

He had never felt like this ever. And it was because of this, he edged his knife away from Jimmy. 

Don’t believe him...he’s a sociopath..remember..Max. 

  
Tommy tried telling himself but all that did was make his heart hurt even more. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t kill him. 

He turned to Jimmy who was slowly losing consciousness due to the blood that was dripping from his open wound. He took out of his pocket a clump of tissues and pressed it against his arm. After a few minutes, Jimmy began to become more aware again and took the tissues from him. 

“Help...me.” Jimmy whispered, drowsily leaning on Tommy even more.   
  


“O-Ok...” Tommy mumbled back, unintentionally holding the injured man in his arms. 

This added to the pain he was suffering from mentally, he felt his heart and it was fast. Not because of the adrenaline after murdering. But because of something else. 

That he didn’t know. 

  
  


The gang disappeared after Tommy threatened them all multiple times, then straight after he rushed to give the semiconscious man attention. In case of emergency, he would always carry a small first aid kit inside his small black side bag. So he tended to Jimmy’s wounds that he caused quite professionally. 

”Thank..you..” Jimmy muttered, sitting up after gaining some energy back from drinking vitamins. He stared at the exhausted psychopath who was putting the bandage on his arm for him. 

“Uh.” Tommy muttered back, awkwardly trying to avoid eye contact. 

After he finished completely, he was about to get up and leave until Jimmy grabbed his T-shirt again. 

“Don’t leave me!” He whinged, making a pouty face. 

His face resembled a baby’s face, with soft skin even with the scar from the knife.   
  


But Tommy was in an unknown state of mind. He couldn’t kill him again. He didn’t know why. And he didn’t know what to do. 

“What?” He grumbled back, miserably. 

“I-I can’t go back home, can I stay with you?” Jimmy asked m, anxiously. 

Startled, Tommy jerked away which made Jimmy let go of his T-shirt. “What the fuck? No way!” He shrieked, alarmed.   
  


“Why? I’m afraid t-the gang know where I live-“ 

“no fucking way!” 

“But why?” Jimmy frowned, 

Tommy stared at him blankly “because you’re supposed to be dead!” 

“Oh yeah..that. Why didn’t you kill me?” Jimmy asked curiously, causing the other to glare aggressively. 

“What the fuck?!” 

“Either kill me or let me stay with you!” 

“I’m-you fucking...no! Fuck off.” Tommy snarled back, furiously beginning to storm off the other way without him. He got to the end of the street before groaning exasperatedly again and turning around.   
  


Sighing, he marched back to Jimmy after realising that Park and Poppy might still be waiting for him. “Ok. For one night only.” 

“Wait, are you serious??” Jimmy questioned, stunned that he had actually agreed to him. “It would be easier to just kill me though.”

”Don’t fucking tempt me.” He aggressively gritted his teeth, trudging back down to the end of the street. This time with the tall man following him.   
  


Suddenly, they halted just before they turned the corner as Tommy spotted Park and Poppy waiting outside their car for him. 

“Fuck!” He cursed, turning back to Jimmy who held his arm that began hurting again. He began to think of a plan.

”what do we do?” Jimmy asked. 

Without replying back, Tommy grabbing his head and swiped at it with his pocket knife. Collecting a fistful and putting it in a plastic wallet before the the other could protest, and rushed to the two henchmen.   
  


This is insane. I’ve gone fucking crazy. Tommy shook his head in disbelief, as he made his way to them holding Jimmy’s hair.

  
Instead of fucking killing him. 

He allowed him to stay in his own ramshackle. 

  



	6. First night

“I killed him.” 

The psychopath undoubtedly cringing in his mind, handing the small plastic wallet containing snippets of his target’s hair to the henchmen. 

His cringe was mistaken for a sign of grumpiness. As he handed the bag, the largest henchmen backed away from him in a sulky manner. 

“Poppy, you take it.” He mumbled, frowning the other way with his arms folded like a little child. 

“Park-“ Poppy began, nudging his childish brother. 

“I’m not talking to him.” 

“For fucks sake I haven’t got the time for this!” Tommy bellowed back irritated shoving the bag in Poppy’s hand. 

”Don’t give him the money until he apologises.” Park ordered, sulkily taking the bag off him and chucking it in the car. 

“Why does he have to apologise?” Poppy questioned, also becoming annoyed with his behaviour. 

“Because I called him a fucking ape.” Tommy rolled his eyes, getting desperate to leave the twoto themselves. 

“Why?” 

“Because he is one!” 

“Tommy how would you like it if I called you a fucking moron?” Park scowled, as Poppy forced him to face towards him. 

He certainly felt like one in this whole situation he was stuck in. A moron. Who’s believing in a sociopath he doesn’t even know well. 

“I don’t fucking care.” He shrugged, raising his palm out for the cash he was promised. 

Psychopaths don’t feel remorse. He remembered, they also don’t feel guilt. Which is why he impatiently snatched the sports bag containing money from Poppy just as he was giving it to him. 

“The fuck did you give it to him for?” Park hit Poppy’s arm as they both watched Tommy desperately run back to the corner of the street. 

“Because you’re a fucking baboon that’s why.” Poppy sniggered, smacking his arm back. 

He turned the corner and stopped in front of Jimmy who was leaning on the wall, out of breath. Surprisingly, he was trying his very best to remain calm and not to explode in this whole situation. That could be solved if he did just assassinate his target in the first place. But instead, he was still alive and was just observing him getting his breath back with a small lollipop in his mouth. 

“So that’s why you cut my hair?” Jimmy questioned, inquisitively as he pointed at the sports bag he was carrying. 

Tommy nodded, panting before he stood up straight. He observed Jimmy with a disgusted expression on his face “where the fuck did you get that lollipop from?”

”Just this corner shop. You took long a-and I was hungry so...you want some?” Jimmy attempted to offer, retracting his hand straight away when he saw his irritated glare.“Never mind.” 

“Let’s go before I lose my mind.” Tommy spat back, he began trudging up the hilly street with the tall man following behind him. 

Although, he had already lost it. His mind. In a battle of the most demeaning, depressive, aggressive thoughts about himself. Handling his urges was hard enough for him, even though he felt he should be used to it by now he wasn’t. This time he didn’t make a mistake but he also didn’t get the job done. 

Because the job was following him home that night.

They soon arrived outside his ramshackle, which gave the impression to Jimmy that he wasn’t legally living there. Intrigued, he entered as soon as Tommy reluctantly let him in. Observing the damaged walls with the torn wallpaper. Avoiding some of the damaged floorboards that would tremendously hurt if trod on, he curiously entered the living room area which lacked the qualities of one with only a few pieces of furniture which resembled the average living room there. A very old dusty damaged sofa which faced a torn out fireplace and piles of bricks in the corner.

“No wonder you need the money.” Jimmy said, to Tommy who struggled past him and began dragging the sports bag up the narrow stairs. 

Desperately, he rushed out of the living room and flew past the struggling psycho and up the stairs to the upper hallway which suffered enough damage as downstairs. 

“What?” Tommy questioned, watching the man desperately point to the one room that filled the space up there. He noticed his desperation and realised “the bathroom is in the bedroom.”

“T-The bathroom is in the bedroom?” Jimmy repeated back, slightly confused, slowly lowered his working arm. “There’s a toilet in the bedroom?”

Realising his confusion, the other sighed frustratedly “the bathroom isn’t in the same room! Just go in there you’ll see the door for it.” As he waited for him to rush in the bedroom, he picked the sports bag up again and when he entered the room he shoved it under his bed. Exhausted, he fell back on the bed and tried to make himself feel calm. 

_Tommy..keep calm, it’s just one night. One night._

But he couldn’t stop his conflicting side speak. 

_ Why couldn’t I just fucking kill him?  _

Tommy just wanted answers. He just wanted to know what was wrong with him? Why all of a sudden was he losing his strength, why was he losing his concentration that he had had all these years. Why? 

“It’s a pickle isn’t it?” Tommy opened his eyes to the voice breaking his concentration once again. Witnessing Jimmy laying next to him on the bed with his T-shirt off, he yelled out in shock and jerked up. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” He screeched, shuffling away from him as he began to sweat. 

“Oh.” The other sat up along with him, innocently staring back “I was just wondering... what was wrong with you too.” 

“The fuck do you mean?” 

“You’re questioning yourself, I noticed it too and it’s making me wonder why you couldn’t kill me.” Jimmy began to ponder along, causing Tommy to stare back quite agitated. 

“Who said I can’t fucking kill you?? Insult me right now and I’ll rip your voice box out!” He snarled back, aggressively threatening him with his hands. 

Even saying this, didn’t boost his confidence. It was as if, someone or something was stealing all his strength, all his stealth and concentration away leaving him to feel weak. 

“Whatever. Do what you want when I’m asleep, if you can.” Jimmy smirked back, amused by his frustration at failing to act on his threats. He got off the bed started to exit the room but entered bank in alarmingly when he realised “wait, where do I sleep??” 

“Outside.” Tommy hissed back, purposely laying in such a way on the bed so that there was no room. 

“Move over, I need to sleep.” Jimmy climbed on the bed impatiently, trying to push Tommy away. 

“Get lost. You sleep downstairs.” 

“I’ll die from the heat downstairs!” 

“Exactly, get the fuck downstairs.” Tommy grinned sinisterly, he pushed him off the bed and raised the middle finger at him. 

After now battling with the situation who constantly annoyed him, Tommy won his bed back sending the sulky man back downstairs with a ragged blanket and spare pillow. 

_ 3am _

At this time, Tommy was kept awake by the droning repetitive thoughts engulfing his mind. 

He was a sociopath. Sociopaths are the most feared as they use manipulation as their main weapon to catch anyone and make them vulnerable. Psychopaths catch anyone at the most vulnerable moment, in the dark night when they’re afraid of everything out there. Sociopaths bond with the public then feast on their body when the time is right. 

This was reason Tommy was awake. Not because he was afraid, but he was prepared. He kept his many sized pocket knives of the table near him and he slept on his back so he could keep an eye on his surroundings for a certain someone lurking. 

_ Jimmy Karn, you’re not going to get me that easily.  _

It was at 3:10am when the anticipating Tommy sat up when he heard a creak from the floorboards. The creaks continued loudly, indicating to him that it was near to him. 

Rapidly, he grabbed his phone and turned the torch on and shone it to the right side where he heard the creaks.The light revealed the creature, bending down and covering his eyes.

“Fuck! Are you trying to blind me?” Jimmy shrieked, standing up straight when he realised it was just a phone torch. 

“You think you can fucking sneak up on me when I’m asleep?? Amateur.” Tommy growled, purposely aiming the light in his eyes. 

“Is this what you do to all of your guests? And by guests I mean the rats that roam this house all night.” Jimmy screeched, causing the other to aggressively grab his knife and aim it at him. He raised his hands up, afraid “Ok ok! I’ll stop!” 

“I kill all the rats that appear. And since you’re here-“ 

“Ok! Forget what I said! I-I just need to go toilet...” Jimmy waited until Tommy gave him permission before entering the bathroom, turning off the torch he laid back in bed. 

For a sociopath, his acting is too realistic. He thought, but in his conflicting side argued that it was real. He was genuine. 

But could he really be fooled that quick? 

Tommy wasn’t going to give up his doubts until he learnt more about Jimmy. If he asked him even the most personal questions he would be sure to catch him out. 

“You should by an air conditioner with that money.” Jimmy suggested as soon as he entered out the bathroom, pointing to the sports bag poking out of its hiding place. 

“I didn’t ask for your fucking suggestions.” He grumpily spat back, turning to face the left side of his bed. 

“Man you say the F word a lot.” 

“You fucking talk too much.” 

Jimmy sighed, he sat on the bed to over watch the Tommy facing his back towards him. “You’re never going to have friends if you continue talking like this.” 

“Just the way I like it.” 

Deep down, he felt this was a lie. Jimmy could feel it. So he began to lay down on the right side of the bed. “I doubt that.” 

“I was doing fine before you came.” Tommy muttered back, beginning to shut his eyes sleepily. 

“You’re not blaming your sudden lack of strength on me?” He questioned, sitting up and turning to the irritated psycho. 

“I’m blaming my fucking lack of sleep on you. Now shut up.” 

“Alright, Christ! Aggressive.” Sulkily. he faced back the other way to rest his eyes.

As Tommy could feel that he was falling asleep, he couldn’t be bothered to tell Jimmy to go back downstairs. In all honesty, he didn’t have the strength to scold him again. 

Talking to Jimmy really takes the energy away from you, the genius Tommy worked out in his mind. 

He enjoyed it, having the feeling of wanting to duck tape his mouth to permanently shut him up. 

_That’s an idea, must remember to do that tomorrow._ From the exhausted Tommy’s last thought. 


	7. Like a boomerang, he returned.

Howling. Panting. Scrapping the bare ground desperate to save their life. But Tommy, prowling about, caught up with the vulnerable victim who had already been stomped on multiple times. The psycho stood on his neck, trapping his airways so there was no way to escape the last breath. 

He did this with ease, although he was in a foul mood that night. As he’d left his larger sized pocket knife at home. This played in his mind like a broken record, another mistake. 

Another fucking mistake. 

Looming over this thought added to his desperate need to dispose of the body and rush back home to find his knife. 

Hastily, he grabbed the moist lukewarm lifeless body and hauled it further into the forest to his usual spot where he would either disintegrate or bury if he was in a hurry. 

One thing that always bothered Tommy was when he felt like his hobby was rushed. He wouldn’t get the same satisfaction as he would do on a normal day and this wasn’t good for his cycle, as soon he knew he would loom back into the depressive state. 

Disposal of the body took some time, when he finished it was just around 3am and he trudged out the forest feeling irritated on the way back to his ramshackle type house. 

Pure darkness surrounded the sky as Tommy attempted to enter his house through the back gate, but as he was about to unlock it he noticed a shadow coming from the street lamp just outside. 

Suspiciously, he unlocked the gate and crept from the garden to the front of the house where he hid behind the brick walls. Taking a quick peek, he saw that someone was sitting, huddled outside the doorstep shivering under a grey blanket. 

“What the hell?” Tommy questioned to himself, utterly confused. The figure was quite tall and slim, it reminded him of someone. 

And when he realised, the psychopath groaned and scratched his head. Just in case, he grabbed a wooden plank that was by his side before approaching the person. 

“Oh, good you’re back!” The person gleamed at him, relieved as he grabbed his arm. 

“Jimmy what are you doing here??” Alarmed, he removed his arm from the shivering man and glared back. 

It was just that afternoon when Jimmy left his ramshackle after staying for one night only. Therefore, it was conceivable to him why Tommy was very confused and slightly annoyed at his sudden appearance again. 

“The gang. They’re following me th-they know where I live.” Jimmy whispered, glancing around mysteriously. 

“Where are they I’ll fucking beat them up!” Tommy exclaimed becoming quite aggressive as he raised his plank upwards. 

“No..I lost them for now. T-Tommy they’re after me and I don’t know why.” His voice trembled as he began to shiver under the thin blanket he was hiding under. 

“But. You’re tall.” Tommy stared back at him, puzzled “can’t you just fight them off?” 

“Easy for you to say, they’re not just any gang they’re really really messed up. I-I can’t just go out and kill them!” Jimmy squeaked, his body shaking. 

“Well...” the other sighed, regretting what he was going to say next. “Come inside.” 

He tugged on the blanket causing Jimmy to stand up and tower over him waiting for the door to be unlocked.

_What the hell is this...he’s back here again. Am I getting deja vu?_ Tommy questioned to himself, shutting the door after the tall man entered. 

“Thanks Tommy.” He took the blanket off and handed it to the other, like a gift except he was reluctant to accept it. 

“What?” He remarked back, taking the blanket.

“Keep it, you can use it as a rug or whatever.” Jimmy smiled back, amused with Tommy’s expression. He watched him rush upstairs to the bathroom, before taking a closer look at the blanket itself.

It was soft and thin and smelled quite pleasant. And as he opened it up he saw on the label it had Jimmy’s name on it, in a black permanent marker. 

_ What am I doing?  _

Tommy had to question, as he felt himself feeling quite overwhelmed with a small smile on his face. It was just a blanket, but something about it made him smile. 

_Possibly, the fact that it had Jimmy’s name on it. And..because it smelt like him?_ When Tommy realised his thoughts his smile was washed away and reverted back to a straight face as he headed upstairs to his bedroom. 

“I’m sleeping downstairs in the atrocious living room aren’t I?” Jimmy sighed, frowning as he jumped onto the bed when Tommy entered. 

“You’re welcome to sleep outside if you wish.” He snarled, chucking the blanket onto the bed. 

“Who did you kill today?” Jimmy asked casually, trying to make a distracting conversation with him. 

“A stranger I don’t know.” The other shrugged, he remembered the mistake he made again and began to frantically search through his table draws for the pocket knife. 

“You left your knife didn’t you? I noticed because you didn’t threaten with it before.” Jimmy sat up, interested. He decided to join in with the search, beginning under the bed. 

“I fucking messed up again-“ 

“Found it!” Jimmy exclaimed, his arm reached out from the bed with the larger pocket knife, that was slightly dusty. 

“What the fuck.” Tommy cursed, annoyed with himself as he took it off him and examined it carefully. “Fucks sake.” 

“A thank you?” Jimmy began to prod, staring at him suggestively. Although he backed away when Tommy pointed it at him. 

“What’s wrong with me lately? What the fuck is happening to me?!” Tommy screeched, slamming his hand on the table agitatedly. 

Jimmy observed him severely heaving and panting, clutching to his chest. It didn’t take him long to go to his aid, as the nervous attacks began. 

“It’s okay. Shh, look at me.” Jimmy softly whispered back, he carefully touched his face and began to persuade him to breathe in and out slowly. “Everything is fine.” 

But...it wasn’t. For Tommy, it wasn’t. He genuinely felt like he was losing his mind and he just couldn’t take it anymore. The man he was meant to kill is now teaching him how to breathe. Just madness. Insanity. He left his pocket knife at home, the one necessity he always carries with him. And even though he did kill someone, he just didn’t feel satisfied. 

“It’s like there’s a curse on me or something.” Tommy muttered, as he began to feel a bit calmer when Jimmy sat him on the bed. “I don’t feel the same anymore. Everything is different. And I don’t know...” 

That exact moment when he glanced up, he trailed off. Because he found himself staring into his eyes, that were quite mesmerising to him. Jimmy stared back, awaiting an answer, but he too was intensely lost in the other’s eyes. 

“Why...” Tommy managed to complete the sentence after quickly turning away from Jimmy’s deep gaze. 

There were awkward pauses as Tommy began to feel physically calmer, but not mentally repaired yet. All he could ponder about was his mistakes he made, not just that night but the nights before. His first mission as a contract killer. 

Instead of killing he decided to tell lies and hide the target away, but all he could argue was that deep down it felt right. He felt that something was coming along the way would be much more dangerous and threatening and therefore it wouldn’t be right to kill him. 

But there was no evidence for this, just his idiotic paranoid mind. 

_ So... what on Earth is wrong with me?  _

_ 5am  _

Insomnia decided to creep up on Tommy, with endless depressive curses at himself daunting on him. It didn’t help that the tall man who genuinely wanted to stay with him on the same bed was fast asleep beside him. It didn’t help because, he involuntarily found himself consistently giving him curious glances. Before he fully decided to face his way and observe him. 

Tommy constantly repeated  _I’m a failure, a failure. A lie._ A failure.  And the constant staring at sleeping Jimmy just confirmed this. 

He failed to carry out his psychopathic desires to the best of his ability that night and with Jimmy Karn he failed completely. And that word failure weighed down on him as if he was carrying a heavy sack of potatoes on his back. 

What he didn’t realise was that there must be a reason for this failure. It cannot be just tiredness, it had to be something else comprehensible. 

Until he can admit what it is, we would never know why. 

“How did you sleep?” Jimmy Karn, cheerily sat opposite the miserable Tommy on a broken countertop in the kitchen, with a bowl of plain cornflakes and milk. 

“The usual. Like shit.” Tommy muttered, staring into his empty dusty bowl feeling overwhelmed with tiredness. 

“So you didn’t sleep.” The other grabbed the cornflakes box from the side and attempted to empty the last few pieces into his bowl until he was stopped. 

“I need to pour my milk first.” Tommy mumbled, pushing Jimmy’s hand away as he took the milk bottle from the side.

Disgusted, Jimmy snatched the bowl away from him just as he was pouring the milk in the bowl which incidentally caused the milk drip onto the counter instead. 

“What the fuck?” They both screeched at each other at the same time, Tommy became increasingly irritated and attempted to grab the bowl back but Jimmy held it high in the air.

“Give it back!” 

“Who the fuck puts milk in the bowl first??” Jimmy shrieked, holding both the cereal box and the bowl in the air. “You fucking psychopath!”

“Exactly! I am a psychopath now leave me alone!” Tommy cried back. 

“Really, from what I’ve seen you’re actually kinda weak.” Jimmy sneered, although this made Tommy reach into his pocket and swing his knife out menacingly. Causing him to back down and put the bowl and box. 

“Don’t annoy me today or I’ll drag you to that gang and watch you get beaten up.” He threatened, as the other allowed him to eat the way he chose to. 

It was a horrific sight to see, the amount of milk that was poured in before the cereal entered. But if he was to stay there for a while then he knew it would be best just to brush it off. 

“How long am I staying here then?” Jimmy asked curiously, eating his normal average cereal. 

“I don’t know, less if you continue to annoy me.” 

“Man sometimes I think you think everyone is annoying.” 

“Oh, where did you get that idea?” Tommy hissed back sarcastically, grumpily eating his soggy cornflakes, causing Jimmy to grimace. 

“So..” Jimmy began attempting to change the subject “how often do you go out at night to kill?” 

“It used to be every night.” Tommy sighed, as this was true until he became a contract killer. A failed one. 

“Cool! Your favourite weapon is the knife right? Mine is the a wooden bat because one time I beat this guy up so badly with it like I bashed his skull in and everything and I saw his brain.” Jimmy excitedly exclaimed. The mention of skull and brain caused Tommy to look up for the first time that day in disbelief.

“No way, you actually beat him that hard?” 

The other nodded excitedly and continued “yeah it’s true! My agents would vomit if I mentioned this them again but back me up on this. It was a total mess there was blood and puss everywhere. Only I quite enjoyed it though, if only you could’ve seen it.” 

“Sounds fun! If only I had that strength right now.” Tommy remarked back, although he was quite intrigued by that story he chose to ignore it to the best of his abilities. 

_ Remember what Max said. Don’t believe a sociopath.  _

In all honesty, Tommy didn’t know what to believe in anymore. The one thing he believed in was his strength to control his personality disorder. And now he felt all disoriented and lost. 

“You should try a bat instead, like that wooden plank you had last night. It makes a difference.” He smiled back as he continued to happily finish his midday breakfast.

Tommy watched him get up and place his plate in the sink to wash, waiting for him to leave the room to get changed. Straight away, he spat the chewed cereal that was in his mouth back into the bowl as the tiny dust particles began to clog his throat making it impossible to swallow another spoonful. He moodily threw the bowl into the bin along with the empty cereal box and followed the other upstairs into the bedroom. 

_ 2pm  _

Tommy sat anxiously on the steps of his patio in the garden, shaking his phone and smacking it on his hand. He was awaiting any messages from Max on a new job, and as the minutes when he wouldn’t receive one, he grew more and more paranoid. 

_ Do they know I messed up? Do they know Jimmy is still alive??  _

“Awesome, you have cigarettes!” Jimmy exclaimed, after spending time upstairs he found Tommy’s packet for him. 

“Oh thanks.” He muttered in response, snatching the packet off of him just as the latter was about to take one out. 

“Hey! Can I have one?” Jimmy dat next to him on the step and watched him take one out for himself and light it up. 

“No way you’re a child.” Tommy shrugged, putting the packet in his pocket. 

“The fuck do you mean? I usually have them I-I ran out of them though.” He began to frown, his eyes widening at the small puffs of smoke. 

“Aren’t you like eighteen or something?” 

“Fuck off, I ain’t that young.” The other exclaimed, as Tommy gave him a surprised look, he seemed quite offended.

“Okay.” 

“I’m 20 years old actually.” 

“Whatever, here take one then.” He reluctantly offered him one to which he took it with great pleasure but then shrugged and just placed it behind his ear. Causing the psychopath to make complaining noises. 

Once they were both silently smoking, Tommy turned his phone back on to see if he had received any messages. He sulkily put it back down when there was none and sighed to himself. 

“What’s wrong?” Jimmy questioned, acknowledging his sighs. 

“I’ve not received any messages from Max, about work. I’m just wondering why.” 

“You think he knows you didn’t kill me? Lets be honest it’s not as if I didn’t want you to kill me anyway-“ 

“Shut up.” Tommy hit his arm in response, he checked his phone again and growled frustratedly when there was nothing. 

“You really want work? I could give you some.” Jimmy suggested, as he watched Tommy put his cigarette out on the ground.

It was frustrating to Tommy, as it felt completely dodgy that Max was suddenly quite. He hasn’t called him back for any new work, or even to congratulate him on his (fake) assassination. 

He was worried that he or the henchmen brothers knew that it was all a lie, mainly because he was convinced that they would come after Jimmy again and kill him themselves. 

Which Tommy didn’t want yet because there was that small part of him that was quite loud. The part that wanted to get to know him better. So he was inclined to accept the offer of work at Jimmy’s own contract killer gang, providing that Max wouldn’t find out he was still alive. Or that he was kind of betraying him.

  
  


“Okay what’s the job?” Tommy asked, eager to know as he turned to Jimmy who was staring at the sky.

“I don’t know yet, but we’ll see when we go to my warehouse.” He grinned back, before standing up and heading back inside the house. 

“Fucks sake, you got me excited then!” The psychopath scowled back, giving him a dirty look as Jimmy began giggling and grinning back at him before heading out the kitchen.   
  


_Idiot_.  Tommy showed an expression he had never thought to have shown before. As the tall idiot called for him moments after, he couldn’t help but express himself whilst he could when no one was taking notice. 

It was something he never thought would appear on his face.

A smile. 


	8. They’re mysteries.

Jimmy was still a mystery to him. 2 days he had stayed for so far, yet Tommy knew as little about him as he did when he first met him. The only new facts he recorded was the stories Jimmy would describe to him, but they would include specific details about the person him and his team would torture and beat up more. All he really knew was the basics like his full name and age. 

If Tommy was to write a biography or list of facts about him this is what it would supposedly look like: 

. Name: Jimmy Karn 

. Age: 20 years old (apparently) 

. He’s very tall. 

. He has a contract killer agency which is rivals with Max 

. Has cereal first (??) 

. Very annoying 

. Idiot

Maybe he would have more or less, but Tommy was still uncertain of his age, even so, one day when Jimmy was napping he attempted to look at his ID to see if he really was plausible. However, at the moment when his hand was reaching for his jean pocket, he accidentally tumbled onto him, waking him up and causing him to yell in confusion. 

Quite an embarrassing moment one would argue. Tommy would argue, if it hadn’t been for the moment after. When nothing was said, and they became immersed in each other. Lost in their eyes for that split second, until Tommy pulled away again as he sweated nervously exiting the living room. 

_ Why does that happen to me?  _

It was Monday afternoon when Tommy sat on rock hard sofa pondering to himself, overthinking that moment over and over again. He didn’t think anything else would overtake his consistent negative thoughts about the mistakes, yet still that moment didn’t exactly satisfy it as it would always come crawling back into his mind with the stench of depression. 

Since they hadn’t eaten anything that day, he sent Jimmy to the town centre to buy takeaway food for them to eat, lending him a few notes from the hidden sports bag to pay for it. Although, the tall man insisted he should save that money to redo the rooms of the house, Tommy argues back he would need millions for that to happen and so just shoved the money in his hand and shoved him out the door. 

Those actions were quite bold of him, as he would constantly debate whether to trust him with anything relating to him or not. 

Just as he thought Jimmy was a mystery, he planned to keep himself a mystery too. 

What caused him to voluntarily make up his mind, was the thought that Jimmy had been staying there for 2 days already - if he wanted to attack him wouldn’t he have done so already? 

So he sent him to the shops also to collect groceries too.

With this thought in mind, the paranoia decided to join in saying that he should limit the trust as he’s a sociopath. He could just be fake nice. 

_ How does someone live like that... being fake to fool everyone out there. Jimmy you can’t fool me, you won’t.  _

The paranoid thought prey on the weak mind. Tommy heard the front door slam shut along with shuffling of removing shoes, he was back. 

Cautiously, he stood up and followed the sounds of the footsteps to the small kitchen where he saw the bag of groceries and the takeaway on the kitchen counter. As he edged closer he saw that Jimmy was crouching down on the floor and petting something that just outside but near the door. 

“Jimmy?” He questioned, causing the other too look up in response and smile. The thing he was petting was a small short curly haired brown puppy. 

“Oh hey, I didn’t know you had a puppy!” Jimmy squealed, cooing as the puppy happily began to pant in his face. 

Tommy rolled his eyes with a small grin, crouching down next to him “that’s the neighbors dog, he sometimes comes into my garden.” 

“He doesn’t have a collar though.” He picked the puppy up and began playing with its paws. 

The psychopath had never seen someone so exuberant over a puppy before, with this thought he started to watch him quite admiringly. “I don’t know, I always just assumed it was the house opposite mine.” 

The perfect normal looking house. 

“Oooh can we keep it then?” Jimmy beamed, his eyes widening as he stared towards Tommy holding the yapping puppy. 

“No way! The house is a mess, Jimmy. Also if he didn’t have owners how would I know it’s a he?” 

“Because you can obviously tell.” Jimmy grinned, he held the puppy up show its belly and below. Grimacing, Tommy took the puppy off him and put him down. 

“Ok ok, you got me.” He frowned, sighing as he watched the puppy bark excitedly and run around outside. 

“Can i at least name him? Just in case he comes back?” He asked, using his sad wide eyes as a way to convince him. 

_ His eyes...are so mesmerising.  _

He couldn’t let that moment happen again, therefore he instantly nodded “fine, but hurry up I’m hungry.” 

“Okay...how about.. coconut?” 

“What?” 

“Chopper?”

“You obviously suck at names, I’m going.” Tommy hissed, grumpily standing up to open the takeaway boxes up. 

Jimmy gave him a dirty look and stuck his tongue out at him, when he payed his attention back to outside he noticed the puppy had ran off. Upset, he shut the door and sat on the stool by the counter beginning to eat his food. 

They both ate together in silence. For about 2 minutes. As Jimmy broke the silence, pointing his spoon at Tommy abruptly “how about choco?” 

Tommy put his cutlery down and sighed exasperatedly “you’re just thinking of brown things aren’t you? How about ‘Bark’?” He used sarcastic air quotes around bark, causing the other to continue sulking.

“Thunder? That’s a cool name!” Jimmy squeaked, anticipating an approval from him. “Or lightening? If we get another puppy we can call it lightening!” 

“Thunder and lightening?” Tommy snorted, carrying on eating from takeaway box. 

“Fine i give up, jerk.” Jimmy scowled back, moodliy shoving the pieces of egg in his mouth. 

“Jerk? That’s a good name!” 

“Are you crazy?” 

Tommy chuckled amusingly, he placed his empty box into the bin near him and put his cutlery in the sink. 

When they both finished, they both went to the living room to relax and play games on their phones. It turned out they both liked playing shooting games online, that was a new fact he learnt about him. As with the puppies thing, it wasn’t quite surprising to Tommy that he liked them. He had always thought he resembled one.

“I’ll call him Phan.” Jimmy announced whilst they were in the middle of a battle. 

“What, the guy attacking you?” Tommy muttered, as he paused his game to point at Jimmy’s character getting slain on his phone. 

“No, the puppy.” Jimmy huffed, pausing the game as well to hit his head. 

“Why Phan?” 

“Because its the end of my surname.” 

Tommy didn’t know his full surname yet, so when he heard the name he turned to him attentively “what is your surname?” 

“Kritsanaphan.” He smiled back. “I wanted to call it that because...I have puppies. Well they’re with my family back in my home town and well...I just really miss them.” 

_ That’s why he likes dogs so much...he’s lucky to have pets. _

Jimmy continued to explain as Tommy put his phone down to listen “I wanted to bring my puppies up to my condo in Bangkok but there’s a strict no pets policy. I always wonder how much they’ve grown since I’ve last seen them, I haven’t been to my home town in a long time.” 

“Oh.” Tommy murmered, pausing to gaze at his facial expressions. He liked to have an analysis of it in his mind, which he would do every time he would speak. 

“What about you?” Jimmy wondered, turning to him curiously. The other immediately fell silent, putting his phone away. 

The conflict had risen again, let him know information about himself or just keep it inside like always. What harm would it cause letting him know the personal side to him? 

A lot. Because he was still conflicted whether to trust him yet, even though there was no evidence that he would attack him so far, he felt it was because he kept himself as a mystery. 

And till then, he thought Jimmy was a mystery, now all of a sudden he knows that he has puppies in his home town. He knows he has a family. Who he still sees. 

_ Lucky for some... _

Tommy stood up, feeling hotheaded, he pointed out the room “I’m going to have a shower.” He announced, awkwardly avoiding the question. 

“Oh okay!” Jimmy smiled back, he stood up too with him, feeling his awkwardness. 

“I-I meant me?” He nervously added, avoiding eye contact. 

“Oh I know, i just want to help.” 

“Wait what?” He screeched, in an angry confusion at what he meant. 

It became usual for Jimmy to become panicked when he raised his voice at him as he knew that with a raised voice there was also a raised pocket knife which he wished he hadn’t found for him that day Tommy lost it. 

“N-no wait! I mean I’ll help find your clothes ready for it.” Jimmy ushered to him to follow up the stairs, when the pair entered the room they casually began doing their separate things. 

As Tommy was about to enter the bathroom he heard Jimmy’s loud “shit!” From the bedroom and decided to express his annoyance.

“You only have black T-shirt’s??” Jimmy questioned, pointing at the pile of black T-shirt’s and shirts in a corner. 

“Yeah.” Tommy shrugged, he began sorting the pile out by smelling and checking them for the clean ones. 

“Most of them are dirty, I better wash it.” Jimmy said, he collected the separate pile Tommy had just formed. 

As the younger rushed out the room quite cheerily, Tommy gave such a confused reaction to his burst of enthusiasm at the thought of washing the dirtiest clothes he’s ever had to wash. 

_ He likes the weirdest things. It’s cute.  _

_ Tuesday, 3pm  _

They both slept till afternoon when they were awoken by Jimmy’s phone vibrating constantly. When sleepily answered, he revealed to Tommy that his agency needed him for work. Since he promised Tommy he would give him work, he told him that he was able to come with him on the job as well. 

Unsurprisingly, he was very hesitant to this for 2 main reasons. The first being that he was worried that someone from a rival gang or Max’s agents would spot Jimmy walking around in daylight and attack him. And the other reason was that he didn’t want them to know that he had failed to kill his one target. 

The second reason was his least fear, but when he had explained to the stubborn Jimmy multiple times the first fear, he protested and held that Tommy would protect him. Which he had incidentally done the first two encounters. 

After an unwilling agreement and tons of preparations made by Tommy, they finally left the ramshackle disguised with black face masks with the psychopath out in front acting as a shield. Which he argued wouldn’t really help due to the height differences. 

“Oh I can’t wait to see my agents again!” Jimmy excitedly murmured ed as they cautiously strolled down the hilly street. 

“Shhh!” Tommy exclaimed loudly, nudging his arm wearily. 

“Come on Tommy, this is a bit much-“ 

“Shut up, you’re supposed to be dead.” He hissed back, his irritation towards the tall man had reached its limit. 

Frowning, Jimmy sighed as he’d given up on arguing back and continued following and directing him to the warehouse silently. Everyone who took notice of them must’ve thought that they were both high on some sort of drugs, giving them both disgusted looks. 

It’s wasn’t anything unusual for Tommy, he became quite used to those sorts of stares. And he got them without even showing those his violent actions, just his rude responses where enough to freak anyone out. 

Once Jimmy stopped pointing excitedly like a toddler, they reached his warehouse which was discreet behind two buildings through the alleyway where they had their first encounter. 

As soon as they entered, Jimmy removed his mask and exclaimed when he saw one of his agents. The agent was setting out the equipment he had requested beforehand onto a shoddy table and looked up from his work when Jimmy rushed to him. 

“Toy! Where’s the guy?” He approached the table that had all sorts of knifes, different kinds of bats on it, different types of tapes and much more. 

All of which intrigued Tommy very much, as he ignored the two who were discussing. He picked up the medium sized bat, gazing at its structure in awe. But as he placed it down his eyes instantly darted towards the sharpest looking knife on the table. 

“Tommy, this is one of my agents! This is-“ Jimmy abruptly approached Tommy, trying to negotiate putting the knife down. 

“Look at the size of it though!” He struck the knife out in the air, overwhelmed. As the other began to panic, he put down the knife and murmured in satisfaction at the set of equipment. “This selection is much bigger than the one Max has!” 

“Max?” Jimmy agent questioned alarmingly to Jimmy “he’s one of Max’s contract killers?” 

“Tommy! Pay attention!” Jimmy whispered, dragging him away from the table and towards the concerned agent. 

“Jimmy, are you out of your mind??” 

“Toy, it’s okay this is Tommy. He’s the good agent. I’ve been staying with him this whole time, remember?” 

Toy stared at Tommy doubtfully, and then sighed since Jimmy was his superior “okay. I’m Toy, we’ve got one of the gang members in the back tied up. You both ready?” 

“Gang member?” The psychopath questioned. 

“That gang that are after me, my agents caught one of them today and we’re going to question him.” Jimmy explained, as Toy approached him wanting to know what weapon he wanted. “Just give him that huge knife.” 

When they were both satisfied with their weapon choices, they followed Toy to the back room which was open from the sides due to the unfinished brick work. There in the middle of the ground was a struggling man tied to a chair with his mouth taped up. 

“Any information from him yet?” Jimmy asked Toy, fiercely gripping the wooden bat. 

“He won’t tell me a thing.” Toy reported back, leaving the room after he was ordered to. 

What Tommy hadn’t taken into account was the fact that this would be the first time he would actually witness Jimmy at his job, witness him beating someone up. And the thought of that was exhilarating, it was about to happen at any moment. 

“Tommy if you feel uncomfortable you can leave whenever you want.” Jimmy softly addressed him. 

“Fuck that, I’m staying I wanna see you beat this fucker up!” He grinned, holding his knife up before the other stopped him and let him know that he wanted to do it first. So Tommy was to watch his tactics first. 

Instantly, as soon as he watched Jimmy approach the person who was quivering in the chair, he saw the change in his expression. How he had just spoken softly to him with a smile on his face, that had been wiped out. As if someone had activated a kill mode on a robot so that they would immediately turn evil and kill. That’s what Tommy saw. And he never thought that he would admit this before. But he was actually frightened by his sudden alteration. 

The sweet, kind, baby face of Jimmy he noticed earlier, was struck out of him leaving him with a sinister grin and manipulating eyes. 

Actually seeing this alteration, frightened him. Because it confirmed the fears he had of him all along. That he really was a sociopath. 

With all these frustrations burying inside his mind, he saw him strike a series of pressured blows to the head of the gang member and continued to whack it. 

After a while he stopped, from behind he could still tell the man was conscious. “Tommy, come over here!” Jimmy called out breathlessly. 

Dazed, confused and a little shaken, Tommy gave in to his calls and went to him. Where he saw the view from the front, it was an ugly sight that he used to admire. The splatter of pus and blood that would sometime hit himself and stain. The struggle, the fight for the last breathe that used to give him the adrenaline to finish the victim off.

_ I can’t show him that I’m weak again, I just can’t...  _

Managing to repeat this thought in his mind, Tommy let out an aggressive growl and immediately stabbed the unconscious man straight through the his chest multiple times. And as more blood began to pour out, he received an applause from Jimmy who was impressed by his instant kill. 

“He’s dead alright. I got what I wanted from him and you got what you wanted, right?” Jimmy grinned, patting the out of breath Tommy on his back. 

In fact, he hadn’t gotten what he had wanted. He didn’t expect him to be more sinister than himself, and it kept him contemplating when...when it was his time. When Jimmy would finally finish him off. 

After everything, Tommy couldn’t speak coherently to him. It’s was unbelievable. How quickly he switched his expression like he just switched the head of another person. 

_ Jimmy is capable of switching personalities. He’s nice to me, but for now...  _

_ Are they honestly the same person? Was that Jimmy the same Jimmy I saw playing with the puppy he called Phan yesterday?  _

Tommy was provoked to find out. He won’t be fooled. 


	9. The psychopath’s journey of emotions

_ 10pm _

The time they both arrived home. With Jimmy entering first, feeling quite giddy like he always was. With Tommy trailing behind him, silently observant whilst his head exploded overthinking thoughts. 

“Tommy, what’s wrong?” Jimmy, after removing his worn trainers noticed he was looking a little pale. 

In avoidance, the other glanced at him before beginning to trudge up the stairs. He was miserable, like always. But Jimmy noticed the difference in his miserableness then, he was much more silent than usual and less confident at aiming the knife he would carry at him as a sign that he didn’t want to talk. It was as if he could telepathically read his mind; somehow knowing he had a lot on his mind. 

“P’Tommy.” Jimmy called in a small whine, that Tommy was still unfamiliar with hearing. For no one had ever called him Phi in his life. 

_ That voice...does he expect me to believe that he’s innocent? That what I saw on his face before, was a lie?  _

Doubtful, he had the right to be. And even as he felt his physical strength and his concentrated mind fading away he still held onto the doubts of Jimmy. 

But he refused to ignore him. So with heavy reluctance, Tommy paused on the middle step to address his whine “what.” 

“What’s wrong?” Jimmy repeated, concerned as he appeared formally towards him. 

“Nothing. I’m tired.” Tommy blatantly exaggerated, shrugging in addition whilst the other glared right through him. 

“You’re always tired Tommy, you’re an insomniac. There’s something else wrong, you were silent all the way home.” 

Hesitant, Tommy glared back at him. As he grew quite afraid of his tone becoming harsher, with the image of him torturing that person in his mind. 

_ Why...why am I so afraid?  _

But he was also confused, about what he was most afraid of. He was afraid he was losing his strength because of Jimmy. He was afraid that Jimmy already sees through him, and knows deep down he is a failure and a disappointment in his failure to assassinate him. He was afraid of Jimmy. That he wasn’t the man he portrayed, and what he had witnessed before at his warehouse was indeed. 

And if that was the case, he was afraid that he would have no choice. But to kill him. 

Standing there, observing him with his heart pounding furiously. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to do it. 

“I-I want to ask you something.” Tommy managed to speak up after stuttering over his words for some time. 

Surprised, Jimmy gave a reassuring smile, which led to confusion for the other, and replied “sure!” 

“Do you treat all your victims like that?” 

Jimmy unfolded his arms, the floorboards creaked as he edged closer to him “...like what?” 

“How you did today. With sincerity.” Tommy jeered back in sarcasm, moving up a step when he noticed he was closer than before. Clutching on his shirt, he felt the pulse in his chest rise. 

“Oh, that’s what you’re worried about!” Jimmy gasped in realisation, beginning to grin widely. 

“What?” Tommy spat back in agitation at his mocking grin. 

“You’re worried that I treat others differently compared to how I treat you!” 

“Huh?” Tommy grunted back, in even more puzzlement than before. 

_ Strange. He’s very strange.  _

It was indeed strange to him, how he came up with that sort of conclusion just from one question asked. 

“I want to prove to you, that I am not like that.” Jimmy continued grinning, as the overwhelmed with confusion psychopath felt his forehead in pain. 

“Not like what? A fucking sociopath?” Tommy hissed back. 

“I’m not a sociopath!” Jimmy protested, frowning back at him in disbelief. “You still think that about me?”

“Wha-“ 

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about! The first thing you accused me of was being a sociopath! I’ve lived in your house for almost a week and you still don’t trust me?” His frown soon faded away into a harsh aggressive expression, which was what Tommy was afraid of causing deep down. 

His conscious mind persuaded him to fight back “because I saw your true colours today! That evil sinister look of joy as you watched your victim suffer.” 

In disbelief, Jimmy burst out chortling “are you describing yourself when you kill?” 

Aggravated, Tommy stomped back down the stairs up close to him and, aimed the long awaited return of his knife back at him. “Prove to me you’re trustworthy. Treat me just like how you treated that gang member.” 

Smirking, Jimmy nodded in acceptance of his offer as the other in anger stared at him. Just as Tommy was about to put his knife down, he was suddenly grabbed by the wrist and dragged by Jimmy towards the front door. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” He growled, resisting his constant drags. 

“Let’s do it now!” 

“What?” 

“No point waiting, you’re going to have a fun experience being my enemy I’ve captured.” Jimmy beamed, in excitement he grabbed hold of his wrist again and let go of it when Tommy threatened him again. 

“Fine. Let’s go back to the warehouse.” 

_ Past midnight.  _

Should he honestly be afraid of Jimmy? Was the constant battle remaining in his confounded exploding packet of thoughts. 

Naivety was what Tommy had been afraid of his whole life, afraid of falling into a trap and being labelled afterwards negatively. This was what his therapist embellished into his thought process when he was adolescent, to stay aware. 

They huddled together although streets were strangely empty at that time of night on their way back to Jimmy’s warehouse. Beforehand, he was reassured that his agents wouldn’t be there. 

As he was still aggressively being dragged by Jimmy, he immediately began to regret his sudden burst of confidence and began to grow increasingly afraid of his strength. 

The warehouse was empty just as described as before, what only remained there was the impressive supply of weapons him and his agents owned and some furniture. 

Like the torture chair in the back room, which is where Tommy followed Jimmy into cautiously. 

“Sit in the chair.” Jimmy ordered, in a smooth tone that differed from his regular voice but was unlike the harsh tone he had heard before. 

Tommy had kept his resistance to authority figures and commands until that moment, as he was in a lot of doubt he obeyed him and therefore sat on the chair that was incredible painful for his back. 

As he sat down, Jimmy had left the room and came back with a plastic band and a roll of duck tape. “What the fuck are you going to do to me?” Tommy hissed back, arrogantly but racking with nerves inside. 

He crouched down so that he was around the same height as him and began to fit the plastic band round the back of the chair where his hands where. “Test you.” 

“General knowledge? I’m not good at that sort of thing.” Tommy remarked, with unshakable arrogance. As Jimmy was about to stand up straight, he aimed a kick at his legs causing him to fall back to the floor in shock. 

“Don’t push me away.” He frowned back, brushing the dust off of his jacket as he stood up away from him. “I’m just going to question you.” 

“Question me on what?” 

Jimmy brushed his finger on his own lip then revealed the duck tape from behind his back, he crouched down again as he ripped off some tape.

“This is stupid, how do you expect me to answer if-“ Tommy’s sentence turned muffled as he was suddenly covered by the tape. 

“You dont have to answer with words.” 

For a moment, there was just silence. Only Jimmy could here Tommy’s breathing become frantic, as he observed his widened eyes, those that are so mesmerising. 

And the other who was tied up also paused, because of his intoxicating eyes. The moments they had were always because of each other’s eyes. 

Tommy’s mind was overflowing with conflicting thoughts, sitting uncomfortably with his mouth shut and his hands painfully tied together, all he could do was just stare and wait. Whilst in his mind, he would constantly be in battle. 

_ Those eyes...they’re not the same. As in the way he glared at his victim.  _

_ What is he... what is Jimmy?  _

_ I’m afraid he will hurt me, emotionally hurt me.  _

“Tommy, I just want to know one thing.” Jimmy began, in his low-key smooth tone. He waited for Tommy’s reaction, which was blinking, before continuing “why can’t you kill me?” 

_ That question... why? Why do you have to bring it up Jimmy??  _

After being speechless for so long, Jimmy carefully removed the duck tape from his mouth allowing him to exhale properly. Jimmy repeated the question to him in all seriousness, causing him to choke on air and splutter back “what??” 

“That was your first mission. To kill me, it sounded simple. But you couldn’t do it, why?” 

“Fuck you!” Tommy spat back, beginning to jerk out of the chair constantly. 

“Tommy, please.” His voice translated to an even softer tone than usual, to the point that the psychopath just couldn’t take it anymore inside. 

Because all this time, his mind battled the desire that was rested in his heart ever since he encountered him. 

“Before you answer me, I have something to confess.” Jimmy began, causing an instant reaction from him stuck on the chair. 

Becoming aggressive, Tommy tried to move the chair again to loosen the plastic bands. “What is it? Go on!” 

The word confession, left a big hole in his mind. He was left all nervous and panicked, because there was only one possible thing he would confess to, that Tommy was afraid of this whole time. 

“I have to confess.” Jimmy paused, gazing into the his eyes. He could feel the tension and slight frustration he was feeling at that moment. 

“There isn’t an actual gang that’s after me.”

_....what?  _

He had to admit to himself the confession wasn’t as bad as he had thought. But it was enough to cause him to gain his strength back and explode out of plastic bands that restricted his hand and off the chair. 

“What?!” He yelled back, instantly reaching in his pocket for the knife as he was freed from the chair. The knife wasn’t his, it was from Jimmy’s collection of weapons. 

“Tommy, wait! Let me explain!” Jimmy raised his hands up, backing away. 

“Go on.” He ordered aggressively, the knife aimed at his front body. 

“It-it’s not all a lie! I do have gangs after me but... the second encounter. I lied about someone from the gang after me. It was my agent Toy all along.” Jimmy revealed, feeling quite anxious as he watched Tommy slowly lower his aim. 

“Y-you...manipulated me?” Tommy muttered, in actual astonishment. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and suddenly feeling light headed he dropped the knife onto the ground. 

“What? No! I-I wouldn’t-“ 

“But you did! You manipulated me into thinking you were actually being attacked by someone other than me!” Tommy screeched back unexpectedly becoming emotional. 

“No. I did it to get closer to you!” Jimmy exclaimed back, in frustration as he began to edge closer to him. 

“So you could kill me?” 

The emotions, the feelings, the pain. Everything Tommy intended to keep inside. Was finally let out. He suddenly...felt incredibly weak, pacing backwards until he hit the rigid cemented wall against his back. 

His palms sweating, the strands of his hair dripping down to shield his face as he groaned in agony. Desperate to seal his emotions off. 

_ A psychopath shouldn’t be feeling these things... _

_ I can’t stop feeling this way.. why??  _

_ I can’t look him in the eyes, I can’t do it.  _

Swiftly, he felt trapped. Physically, by Jimmy’s long arms that trapped him into a small box against the wall. So close, he could feel his warm breathing. 

Tommy shielded his eyes further to avoid contact and the sweat from his forehead from dripping down to sting him. 

“Tommy, look at me.” The whispers caused his lips to tremble, as he obeyed him and opened his eyes. 

He transformed into a quivering wreck, sniffling and silently sobbing whilst he clutched onto his chest in emotional pain. 

For as long as he could remember, he kept everything inside. Everything. Because he was taught that way, to show no emotions. To not let anyone know that you can be weak, it gives them the excuse to weaken you further. 

All this he learnt and practiced every single day. Little did he know, that there would be one man that would come into his life and change him. 

_ Jimmy. You’re the reason, why I’m weak. I’m weak..for you.  _

Whilst his mind rambled on so did Jimmy, who was desperate to remain calm and not react to the tears he would see. But even then, his voice began to quaver as he spoke softly “I would never hurt you. I couldn’t. Tommy, I would never kill you. Please believe me!” 

Whilst all his attempts to get Tommy to listen was proving difficult, he chose to observe him. When he found he was finding it difficult to breathe due to the restrained sobbing, he encouraged him to remain calm and relax. 

That was when Tommy finally looked him in the eyes. That was when he had a moment of realisation. 

Ending the ongoing battle in his mind. 

Tommy watched him, as his eyes formed a trail of teardrops. He carefully, with his fingers, wiped them off of his face. Placing his right hand on his soft cheek. 

“Jimmy.” Tommy’s voice still trembled, but he managed to overcome the overwhelming emotional state he was in. The other, acknowledged him and gave him eye contact again. 

“Tommy.” 

“Why I couldn’t kill you? Because I fell for you.” 

The confession from him acted as a weight lifted from his heart, that suffered all this time due all the emotional restraints he put on himself. 

Jimmy beamed back with unexpected indescribable exuberance, his heart pounding terribly. Tommy, for the first time in front of anyone, released the chains around his mouth and beamed back at him, looking an emotional wreck but feeling undoubtedly happy. 

An emotion he thought he would never feel without having to satisfy his psychotic desires. 

After beaming and giggling together, they calmed down and slowly Jimmy edged closer to him. Allowing the tips of their noses to nudge. 

Tommy was about to experience what he never thought would happen with him. 

He quickly closed his eyes in preparation for it, at the same time Jimmy closed them too. 

When his lips lightly brushed Tommy’s, little pecks transformed to soft passionate kisses which they both embraced proudly. 

So much so, they didn’t realise they had been at that warehouse the whole night. Feeling the rising sunlight shine on him, Jimmy pulled back from Tommy smoothly. 

“Shit! It’s morning already?” Tommy exclaimed, opening his eyes to check the time. 

_ 6:50am  _

Jimmy glanced towards the sky and then back at the clueless Tommy smiling “you’re so cute, PTommy!” 

“What? Me?” He questioned back, a little bit surprised but overwhelmed too. 

“I’ve always wanted to call you P’Tom! P’Tommy!” He grinned back cheerily, he raised his hand out to him ushering him to hop closer to him. 

_ You’re the cute one Jimmy, I’ve always thought that.  _

Proudly, he held Jimmy’s hand with the brightest smile on his face. Gazing at him, cleared away all the doubts he ever had about him. 

Unexpectedly, as they stood together holding hands, they both overheard muttering just out the door. 

“My agents are here already?” Jimmy questioned, squeezing his hand gently. They both opened the door and saw that he was right. 

“Jimmy?” Toy responded, startled to see his boss early in the morning. He placed his jacket he was wearing on the table in front. 

“P’Tom, I’ve not introduced you to all my agents!” Jimmy smiled, as Tommy suddenly remembered that they were holding hands and soon became shy. 

“Is that Tommy?” Toy asked, chuckling as he peered round to the back where he was cowered behind Jimmy. 

“Yeah, he’s just shy right now. Where’s Mark?” 

“Who called for me?” 

When he heard an unfamiliar voice, he became intrigued and therefore returned to being visible again. 

Jimmy’s second agent was Mark, an average sized but with more muscles than himself, wearing a plain black tank top. 

“Wait a minute, who’s this?” Mark exclaimed, pointing at Tommy who let go of Jimmy’s hand to approach him. 

“This is who I was looking for before, remember?” Jimmy prodded, causing the second agent to groan in realisation. 

“What do you mean?” Tommy asked, confused. 

“You saved Jimmy from that gang before right? Ever since that moment he was trying to find out who you were.” Mark explained, arrogantly beaming back. 

“Yeah, thats why we planned that second encounter.” Toy added “Jimmy was really eager to find you again, he made us search everywhere for you that week.” 

“And it looks like you’re both on good terms right?” Mark smiled back, he grabbed Tommy’s hand to shake it. 

“I’m Tommy.” He replied back, taken aback. 

“I think we need to go now, hes feeling a little tired.” Jimmy said, putting his arm around Tommy casually, causing Mark to react in a suggestive way. 

“Oh! That’s why you’re both here, if you need more privacy me and Toy will just go-“ 

“What the hell, Mark!” Toy hissed back, nudging his arm when he attempted to put his arm around him. 

“Shut up, we’ve not done that yet.” Jimmy winked back, causing Tommy to nudge him painfully back. 

They both said they’re goodbyes to the agents and left to go back home. 

“You’re agent’s are friendly, and loud.” Tommy began, they both were sat at in the kitchen with the back door open. 

“Loud, you’re referring to Mark right? Yeah he’s loud, but he’s very loyal and strong.” Jimmy replied back, playing with the grass that near the steps. 

“Uhm.” He muttered back, taking a puff from his cigarette. 

“Hey. Are you still mad from before?” Jimmy questioned curiously, now looking up at Tommy who was standing. “About the Toy thing.” 

“No. I’m not...” he put his cigarette out in the holder and crouched back down to him. “But I don’t understand.. why were you trying to find me?” 

“You still don’t know it yet?” He grinned “I wanted to find the man who helped me. I knew you would come back for me but I wanted to find out more about you... to confirm my feelings.” 

Tommy scoffed back “what if I had actually attacked you, would you still want to pursue me then?” 

“Yeah!” 

“You’re crazy.” He shook his head, turning to stare at the outside world.He then got up to throw the cigarette ashes away into the bin. 

When he arrived back at the garden door he saw Jimmy petting the named Puppy, Phan, that yapped happily in response. 

“Can we keep him now, PTom? Please?” Jimmy begged, widely grinning up at him. 

He rolled his eyes and sighed “again, the house is a mess Jimmy!” 

Sulkily, he continued to pet Phan who then ran off to chase his tail in the garden. “Besides.” Tommy continued, crouching beside him “Ive already got a puppy.” 

“Really?” He responded, glancing at him. 

“You’re my puppy.” Tommy patted his hair, as Jimmy’s eyes lit up happily.

_ My cute puppy that I will cherish.  _


	10. The Lightning couple: JimmyTommy

Every second they spent together. Isolated in the small ramshackle. Every second, they treasured. As they felt each other’s love blossom each time they spoke. Each time they gazed at each other. They felt a lot closer; Tommy chose to open up more to him each day. 

He let him know everything he went through as an adolescent, all about the behaviour school, his therapist and the knowledge he was taught, and what happened afterwards. Jimmy, intrigued by his life story, hung onto every word, aiding him with comfort when needed. And Tommy loved it. 

All the doubts he had erased completely from the mind. Along with the paranoia he would regularly suffer from about him. Jimmy was a breath of wonderful, cheerful, fresh air. Who helped him greatly inside and the cycle of despair and pain Tommy had.. never existed. 

For he learned a way to get out of the cycle, a way to be happy without badly harming anyone due to the psychotic urges he now has less of. Jimmy showed him a way to be happy and Tommy was truly happy with him. 

Troubled by any thoughts? Jimmy was always there on edge waiting to hear and yearning to help him feel better. 

Because that is his true personality and it really is truly beautiful. Awe-inspiring to Tommy the psychopath whose only thought was to stay miserable. 

Psychopath. A term which they used less of to describe each other. 

Sociopath. A term that Jimmy argues he never was. And the other saw why.

_ Late afternoon. Approx 2 weeks later.  _

It became increasingly obvious that Max, Tommy’s acquaintance boss, had no use for someone like him anymore. As there was no contact from him ever since the mission ended, to which ended the way Tommy never, in a million years, would’ve thought. 

Although, there were positives to this situation, Tommy became suspicious and quite anxious since he was unsure as to whether Max truly believed Jimmy was assassinated. 

Which was one of the reasons why he refused to let Jimmy out of the house on his own unless he wore a mask, but even with this on Tommy bore a sceptic attitude. 

And on this late afternoon, it was decided that Jimmy had had enough. 

“Tommy, it’s sunny outside.” Jimmy sighed in contentment , he opened the thin curtains of the bedroom to allow the beam of sunlight to hit Tommy’s sleeping face. 

“Uh huh.” Tommy groaned, rolling to face the opposite side on the bed. 

“Can we go shopping today?” Jimmy turned back and leapt onto the bed chirping and shaking his body to wake him up. 

“It’s sunny outside and the first thing you think of to do is shop?” He scoffed back, he rolled back to face Jimmy with his eyes shut. Grabbing his hand, he brought it closer to so he could snooze with it. 

“Well, you’ve been saying for weeks this house needs fresh new additions to it. So let’s go buy some things for it today!” 

Gaining a sleepy grunt in response, Jimmy, pouting, laid back in bed facing him. He moved slightly closer to Tommy’s head, where he gently placed a small peck on his forehead. Receiving no reaction, he chose to move to his cheek where he continuely placed soft pecks on it until Tommy opened his eyes. 

“What is it, puppy?” Tommy asked, smiling back at the other who began to blush at the hearing of his nickname. 

“Can we go na? Please?” 

What Jimmy just did, is something he always does to him. To which Tommy would always give in to his cute prods no matter what. 

So there was no surprise at his reply “Okay, we’ll go.” And straight away Tommy beamed back because he knew he fell for it again. “We have been saving the money for it.”

The money to which they were referring to was the sports bag money, that was in the same place under the bed where he left it. As Tommy began to wake up, Jimmy got his clothes out ready. 

“Are you sure you don’t need new clothes too?” Jimmy asked, chucking a black hoodie from the monochrome pile onto the bed. “You have been sharing mine for a week.” 

“You wanted to share.” Tommy shouted from the bathroom before gargling at the sink. 

“Yeah but..I have colourful clothes too.” 

“No thanks.” 

“But you only have black clothes! At least wear white, here’s a white shirt.” Jimmy exclaimed, picking up a white T-shirt from his pile of bright clothes. 

Tommy came out of the bathroom and took the white printed T-shirt he was holding “this says California 98 on it.” He held it with a repulsive expression, examining it. 

“Yeah so?” 

“We’re not in california though, we’re in Bangkok.” He shrugged moodily, chucking the T-shirt back. 

Giving him dirty looks, he swapped the T-shirt with a plain black T-shirt. 

“Also it’s not 98.” Tommy added, grinning to himself when he noticed his dirty look. 

“You’re so annoying.” Jimmy huffed back, turning his back to him so he could get changed. 

Convincing Tommy to have an open dress sense was what Jimmy would not give up on trying. He was making small progress though as Tommy would often wear black hoodies with printed text on it, which was a change from before. 

_ 2:40pm _

With their black face masks on they left the faded brick ramshackle and made their way to the warehouse first before the malls as Jimmy wanted to pick something up he described as a necessity. 

Causing Tommy to immediately smirk “good, we need weapons.” 

“Will you calm down we’re not going to battle we’re going to the mall.” Jimmy rolled his eyes, beginning to run ahead of him to he warehouse. 

_ I love annoying him.  _

Tommy impatiently waited outside the warehouse, sweating from the unbearable heat. As does everything, the weather has a big impact on the mood he would be in for the day and because of the sweltering heat, Tommy dared not go into the warehouse to face a loud conversation with Mark as he would very much appreciate not having to bash someone’s head in for annoying them on a hot day. 

After a few minutes, Jimmy brought out what he intended to bring out which caused the other’s jaw to drop. It was a full black motorcycle along with black helmets. 

“I haven’t rode this in a while.” Jimmy smiled, standing next to Tommy to also gaze at it. 

After staring at it in admiration, Tommy faced Jimmy as he punched his arm “you’ve been making me walk when all this time you’ve got a fucking motorcycle!” 

“If you had let me out of the house earlier i would’ve collected it earlier!” Jimmy whined back, pouting back as he rubbed the spot where Tommy punched him. 

He had never rode on a motorcycle before but had always been fascinated by them, with the dream of one day owning one for himself. As Jimmy sat at the front of motorcycle, Tommy perched on the backseat with his arms reluctantly flailing near his waist. 

Glancing at them with the motor engine purring in the background, Jimmy grabbed him by the wrist and fitted them across his waist unlike the bashful Tommy. 

Revving the engine once more, they sped off in a straight direction towards the inner city where the mall and the lively outdoor markets remained. 

Tommy had only once been to the markets on his own, inconspicuously. When he had to track down and hunt like a psychopathic predator to satisfy his desires. With the market streets always so packed with families and large groups of people, it was easy to blend in. Whilst him and Jimmy together slid through the large groups that’s would hover around the stalls, it reminded him of that moment.

Except, he didn’t have the same feelings than he did when he was premeditating and usually when he did have flashbacks those feelings would appear. But it was different. His hand clung onto Jimmy’s as they explored the different food stalls he had never noticed before. 

“P’Tommy, lets have food at this stall!” Jimmy squealed, pushing past those crowded round a quite enthusiastic stall with many workers cooking out in the open. 

“How much is it?” Tommy asked, eyes scanning the menu that was plastered on the side of the stall. 

The other huffed in response at his focus on the price of the food. They had the sports bag with the cash back at the house but they weren’t so eager to spend it all away so they stashed however much they thought they would need for the mall into an envelope as the money was too large for their wallets. 

Collecting the trays of food Jimmy picked, they sat at the tables behind the stalls that were as busy as the rest of the open market. 

“Have you seriously not been to a market before?” Jimmy asked, excitedly scoffing his seafood order. 

“I have. To hunt someone down though.” Tommy replied back fiercely, eating his food quietly. 

“You’ve not been shopping here?” 

Tommy let out a sigh, thinking back to the past. Deep in the past. Before his adolescent trip began, before he was dumped into the real world. As a toddler with his family, where at this stage in his life his memory was fuzzy and broken up like static on a tv screen. 

He had no real memories of his family. Just the time when they disappeared and never came back. 

“Who would want to go fucking shopping with me?” He hissed back, mainly due to the fact he was annoyed with his remembrance of the past. 

Jimmy took it on the chin as without asking he could tell he indirectly opened up a can of worms. “I’m here with you now.I’ve been before, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” He have a reassuring smile back and then picked up a shrimp from his tray and placed it in his box. 

_ Jimmy...what would I do without you?  _

With immediate effect, he returned back a little comfortable smile. It was little but it made Jimmy feel reassured. 

_ I’m with you right now. I like being with you.  _

  
  


After finishing, they ventured together pass the different intriguing stalls and scenes of the market atmosphere. As they were about to leave the street to go shopping at the enormous mall further away, Tommy’s eyes hooked onto a glimmering shine from a jewellery stall near the exit. He hopped away from Jimmy and to the stall to take a closer look of the shining object. 

Jimmy followed him quite curiously, observing him picking up the object he was drawn too. A bracelet. A sterling silver bracelet with a shining charm on it. Shaped as a lightening bolt. 

“You like it?” Jimmy beamed as he crept behind him to take a closer look at the bracelet. On the stand there were two matching bracelets so he also took the second one and examined it in his hand. “Its cool. Do you want it?” 

“Yeah, if you’re getting one too.” Tommy replied back, gently taking the bracelets so he could pay for them both. 

Holding the bracelets with excitement they walked to the end of the street and paused. Jimmy loosened the bracelets toggle and gestured for him to hold his right arm out. “We have the same bracelets. Do you know why?” He spoke softly as he looped the bracelet round his wrist. 

Tommy shook his head, lowering his face mask to smile up at him. No one took care of him in this way, like Jimmy did. And it warmed his heart. 

“Because it shows that we’re strong together. It shows that we’re powerful together just like this lightning bolt.” 

Tommy gazed up at him, his eyes glimmering with the sunlight bouncing off him and Jimmy. When he had finished, he took the other bracelet and grabbed hold of Jimmy’s right arm excitedly. 

“It shows that we’re a couple.” Tommy added, blushing slightly as he bent down so he could carefully place the bracelet on his wrist. 

_ What if I’m dreaming right now?  _

He couldn’t help but wonder even though he knew the answer to this already. As for so long he believed he was unlovable. Being neglected by his own family left such a devastating hole in Tommy’s mind, that he didn’t realise had affected him so much until now. Because he was stuck with the mindset that love was unavailable for him. Being loved was a difficult unreachable task for someone of his personality. This was the mindset that embraced his psychotic personality. 

Ever since Jimmy came into his life, that mindset gradually began to fade. Along with the misery, the cycle of depression he was in. 

As they happily strolled together to the mall, their arms with the matching wrist swishing near each other’s, it was found that Jimmy had indeed changed him since their first encounter. 

_ 6pm  _

Entering out of the huge discount mall to see the pink tint sky dazzling with the bright sun, Jimmy skipped to the motorcycle that was parked around the block near the market street whose bustling city noises gradually settled down. 

“Come on, PTommy!” He called, cheerily holding the motorcycle helmet as he waited for him to catch up. 

The other was carrying multiple shopping bags frustratedly due to the heat. “How the fuck am I supposed to sit on the motorcycle and hold these?” He cursed as he finally reached Jimmy and placed the bags onto the floor. 

“Oh yeah.” Jimmy looked around the street for a bus stand. “We could just take the bus then.” 

“But what about your motorcycle? Idiot.” Tommy snapped back, fanning himself with his T-shirt as he wheezed. 

Noticing the heat increasingly affecting his mood, Jimmy muttered in response and began to think of a solution.

“Take your time.” Tommy sarcastically replied back, folding his arms at the other who rolled his eyes.

“I told you black absorbs heat.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” 

A solution was finally formed. After 10 minutes of hard pondering. The solution didn’t really need that much thinking of, Tommy argued, but it did end up with them both on the motorcycle. 

All Jimmy did was arrange all the items in the several bags into 2 bags. One bag contained small items and the food shopping bag withing the bag. The other had more heavier items like bathroom facilities and cutlery and a small rug. 

Although, this solution left Tommy in a disadvantage on the motorcycle as he had to make sure he held onto the bags whilst holding onto Jimmy so he would fall off. He was prepared to do anything though to get out of the heat. 

The streets they passed became increasingly silent along the way until they stopped at a traffic light near their house. There was a park on the opposite side of the road which was hoasting their annual funfair. The bright lights of the sign and the people he saw walking around with cotton candy, caused Jimmy to bounce on the motorcycle. 

“Look PTommy, a fun fair!” He pointed just as the traffic light turned green. 

Tommy cautiously poked his head out that was covered by his body and the bags to see what he was pointing at. “Uh huh.” He grunted, as he acknowledged it. 

“Have you been to a funfair before?” Jimmy began but was interrupted by Tommy. 

“No.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“No we’re not going now.” He hissed back, clutching to the sides just as they reached outside their house. 

“I know not now! But maybe another day?” Jimmy suggested, as he turned the engine off the motorcycle and removed the bags from Tommy.

“Jimmy, remember-“ 

“Yes, I’m supposed to remain hidden but Tommy! It’s a funfair I doubt a gang would go there to spy on me.” Jimmy sighed, staring at the funfair. 

“You never know.” Tommy replied back doubtfully watching families have fun in the park and the exhilarating bright rides. 

“Okay, okay. Let’s just go home.” 

  
  


Tommy put the key in the lock. However, as he did this he suddenly felt a twinge. He had a horrible feeling that something bad had happened. There was only one way to find out, and he opened the door. 

To an unfamiliar mess. The ramshackle was kind of a mess already, but this was untidiness of another kind. 

Someone had broken into their home. Immediately Jimmy dropped the bags and Tommy ran up the stairs to the bedroom, his heart pounding out of his chest in a panic. 

Frantically shaking, he saw the state his and Jimmy’s bedroom was in. Everything was shoved onto the ground carelessly and tipped over. Including the bed, to which Tommy ran to the place where it was tipped.

“No!” He yelled searching for what was missing underneath the bed. 

The sports bag containing the money.

Jimmy ran upstairs to see Tommy sobbing in a state as he searched through the mess of the room for a black sports bag. “What the fuck?!” He screeched, causing Tommy to pause and stare around the room. 

“The sports bag, it’s gone.” Tommy muttered, storming through the rubble towards him. 

With a stunned expression, Jimmy put his arm carefully “PTommy, calm down.” He hushed gently, helping him to breathe calmly again.

“I-I dont understand...who would do this??” Tommy shouted in agitation, scratching his head. 

“I don’t understand either...does anyone know where you live?” Jimmy enquired calmly. 

Tommy paced about the trashed room with his frustrated thoughts. He came to the conclusion in his head, one he wished wouldn’t be true. 

“Someone I know must know where I live.” 

“Max?” Jimmy suggested nervously, as the other nodded in response. 

_ But how?  _

Trying to grasp the situation, Jimmy grew quite concerned and confused “but why?” 

Tommy didn’t respond but continued to analyse the way everything was chucked around the room. 

_ Whoever did this was strong unless this was a 2 man job...  _

As the two began to ponder, Tommy turned back to Jimmy with another realisation “Max wouldn’t do this himself but I know which two he would send to do this.” 

_ Park and poppy.  _


	11. The Henchmen Brothers return

“The henchmen brothers??” Jimmy shrieked back to Tommy in disgust. They were still discussing the facts of what just happened and still coming to terms with it all. 

Tommy concluded in a thought out investigation that it had to be Max’ agents Park and Poppy, who came with him on the second attempt at the first mission. It was concluded based on the evidence of the way everything was shoved on top of each other. Only two strong men would be able to lift all the heavy furniture such as the double bed as even Tommy, a short but quite strong man, couldn’t lift the bed on his own.

“Are you sure it’s them?” Jimmy asked again, placing the smashed lamp off of the floor. “None of my agents would do this.” 

“Yeah, positive.” 

“I wouldn’t even be surprised if it was them, they’re like Max’ robots they would do anything he says.” Jimmy scoffed back, collecting the dustpan and brush to sweep the broken bits of glass from the window and lightbulb. 

“You’ve met them before?” Tommy questioned, as he was unsure of how well Jimmy knew Max and his contract killer agency. 

“No but my agent Mark has and that’s how he describes them. I believe Mark has met them quite frequently because they act as Max’ bodyguards.” 

“That Park looks strong but is fucking childish and weak.” Tommy growled back, as he tried his best to hold in his anger towards them. “I’d say Poppy is more mature.” 

The thought of having to face the two “henchmen brothers” again just made his blood boil and his fists curl up in agitation. Although he was unsure who he was actually mad at, them or Max. Since he had always had suspicions of Max, no contact for the past few weeks and all of a sudden his money gets stolen. He had no reason to doubt Jimmy’s agents Mark and Toy as he was reassured when he first met them that they were loyal to Jimmy and sensible. 

Park and Poppy stealing the sports bag full of cash was the only explanation. And it was decided then and there by Jimmy and Tommy that they would interrogate them. 

“I know a way to check if it was the henchmen brothers.” Jimmy came to realisation just after they both finished cleaning the bedroom and arranging the furniture back to its original place. 

“Really?” Tommy responded back as he stood next to him pondering about the bedroom. 

“Yeah, you’ve not met my third agent. He’s a tech agent so he doesn’t go out killing or fighting. He will be able to check who broke into the bedroom.” 

Tommy nodded, feeling slightly uneasy at the whole situation. He glanced at the bedroom as a whole and sighed anxiously; it didn’t feel comfortable to him like it used to. They were just there in the same bedroom in the afternoon, with Jimmy begging him to wake up. But as they both looked at the bedroom as a whole then, it didn’t feel the same. 

Jimmy softly laid his arm around Tommy’s shoulders, pulling him to a close side hug. “It’s okay, P’Tommy. We’ll get the money back.” 

_ I don’t care about the money...I care more about you.  _

Tommy glanced anxiously back at him “forget the money, if Max knows where I live a-and he find out you’re still alive-“ he trailed off when he felt his eyes beginning to tear up, his head full of dread as he clung onto Jimmy’s top. 

“They won’t find me. You’ll protect me, right my PTommy?” Jimmy presented a heartwarming smile back as he stroked his hair whilst they now hugged fully tightly. 

_I’ll protect you, my puppy. No matter what_. 

_ The next morning  _

Another round of his sleepless nights passed, when as soon as the bright natural light entered the bedroom Tommy stretched his arms and got out of bed. He shook Jimmy who was snoozing sweetly like a little puppy, to him. That day they planned to discreetly make their way to the warehouse where they would meet with Jimmy’s third agent to confirm whether it was Max’ agents who broke in. 

When they finished dressing up securely, with their black hoods up and masks on, they were just about to enter outside the house with Jimmy paused. Noticing what was in Tommy’s back pocket. 

The pocket knife...he found it again. 

The other was fully concentrated on locking the door, which made it easier for him to reach into his back trouser pocket and snatch the knife out. 

But as a self trained psychopath, he sensed the removal and turned around instantly “Jimmy, what are you doing?” Quite surprised to see him presenting his knife. 

“I said no weapons needed.” Jimmy sighed back “I have many at my warehouse, you know this already.” 

“I know but just in case.” Tommy shrugged attempting to snatch it back from him. When he missed he stood back sulkily “Jimmy. Give it to me. What if someone tries to attack you right now??” 

“This tiny knife won’t do anything. I believe in your strength to protect me without the need of a pocket knife.” Jimmy replied back quite firmly, because he believed in him. 

Noticing his confidence in himself was quite low ever since he fell for him, Jimmy was desperate to help him feel better about himself. Even if he’s not out there in the dark hunting and killing it doesn’t mean he’s not strong. That’s what Jimmy wanted him to see, and the only way to boost his confidence was to reduce his reliance on the weapons of his choice. 

On the first encounter, when Tommy fought all those criminal gang members, Jimmy watched from far and saw that after a while he hardly used his knife whilst he was beating them up. Therefore, he held that as evidence that Tommy was strong. 

Tommy tried to object his statement but all he could do was sigh and dismiss the knife, taking it from Jimmy’s hand he threw it into a bush just outside the house. “Let’s go.” He muttered, hiding the warmth he felt under his mask when Jimmy smiled in response.

Arriving at the warehouse in style on their motorcycle, caused the agents who were waiting for them to gasp and exclaim. As Tommy got off the motorcycle he noticed the third agent sat at one of the far tables in the back surrounded by laptops. 

“Hey guys.” Jimmy greeted, patting Mark’s shoulder who in return, ignored him and continued gasping at the motorcycle. 

“Jimmy who said you could ride my motorcycle?” Mark smirked, folding his arms suggestively. 

“Shut up Mark.” Evading the gritted teeth response, Mark shrugged and approached Tommy who was still a little weary of him. 

“Don’t worry Tommy, we’ll get those idiots Park and Poppy.” Mark patted Tommy’s shoulder as the other nodded back awkwardly. 

_ I’m not worried...why is he saying I’m worried?  _

“Please even a monkey can catch those morons.” Toy remarked back, also approaching him. 

“Park is such a wimp, I once called him a fucking ape and he got all sulky.” Tommy sneered back causing all three of them to laugh out loud. 

“See? They’ll rat out to Max in no time.” Mark grinned back, as Tommy acknowledged his mischievous grin and returned one back. 

It was the first time he bonded with people other than Jimmy. And he really enjoyed it, as the awkward he had before passed away. 

“Would they though?” Tommy questioned back, suddenly as he began to focus his mind back on the task. “Because they seem to be loyal to Max?” 

Although he wasn’t there long, he was quick to make a judgement on the Henchmen Brothers and how they were with Max. Max was controlling and for some reason Park and Poppy were easy for him to control, which was what Tommy noticed the short period of time he was there. 

The third agent he was yet to meet called Jimmy towards to him to show him something on one of the few screens he had in front of him. And after a while, Jimmy called Tommy away from Mark who was telling him the third pun joke of the day. 

“Thank god, his hilarious jokes are beginning to make me aggressive.” Tommy remarked as he strolled over to the desk sarcastically. 

“Look it was Park and Poppy.” Jimmy pointed at the middle screen which showed the recorded CCTV footage from the shop round the corner of their house which the third agent managed to hack into. The footage showed two tall muscular men wearing black tank tops and masks breaking and entering into Tommy’s house. 

“I knew it.” Tommy murmured to himself. 

“That’s the only CCTV camera that showed the front of the house.” The third agent mentioned, nodding at Jimmy and then to Tommy. He smiled back “Hi Tommy, I’m Nat the hacker.” 

“Nat is the youngest agent and is currently studying computer technology, since he’s still in training he doesn’t go out to do the special agent jobs like Mark and Toy.” Jimmy explained back to him. 

“Yes I can hack into anyone’s phone and access their data.” Nat added, closing the CCTV video on his screen to pull up a whole new software tab encrypted with data codes and other confusing features. “I could hack into Park and Poppy’s phone.” 

“I don’t think that would be necessary right now.” Tommy began to formulate a different plan in his head, posing an expression which caught Jimmy’s eye. 

“Looks like we’ve got another plan Nat but thanks anyway.” Jimmy smiled back, as him and Tommy greeted back and left Nat to call Mark and Toy together. 

In a different section of the disorientated building, Tommy, Jimmy, Mark and Toy huddled together in a group circle. This caused the professional instincts that were inside of Tommy to be released as he explained the plan to Mark and Toy who had the task of capturing the henchmen brothers and bringing them back. 

As he did this, Jimmy observed him with overwhelming amazement. He felt reassured and comforted with Tommy and admired him in so many ways. He could hardly hide the admiration he had for him, with heartwarming gazes across to him from time to time whilst hanging on to his engaging plan. 

_ PTommy is so tiny, cute.  _

“Jimmy, I saw that.” Mark raised his eyebrows at Jimmy who stood next to Tommy who had finished explaining the plan. 

“What?” Jimmy questioned, shrugging and acting nonchalant. 

“Your gazes at Tommy whilst he was speaking.” Mark beamed back, causing Tommy smile up at Jimmy lovingly. 

Blushing bright red, Jimmy returned the soft smile. Whereas, Toy smacked Mark’s head in response “why do you say that for? You’re embarrassing him!” 

“What there’s nothing to be embarrassed about!” Mark exclaimed, smacking Toy’s arm. “They’re cute together!” 

Hearing this, Tommy turned away from Jimmy. His smile soon erased to a stern expression at Mark “what did you say?” 

“You’re cute?” Mark squeaked back, backing away from him. 

“It’s not me that’s cute. It’s Jimmy.” He hissed back “tell Jimmy he’s cute.” 

“Sorry what?” As Jimmy began to giggle at Tommy’s playful manner, Mark hesitantly turned to him “Jimmy, you’re cute.” 

“Fuck you! Only I can say that.” 

“B-but-“ 

“Mark, he’s just playing with you.” Toy sighed, rolling his eyes at Mark’s cowering. 

“I knew that.” He muttered. 

The two bid the special agents farewell after that, then they sighed. All Tommy could do now was play the waiting game and hope Jimmy’s agents succeed. 

_ 3pm  _

They were thrusted forcefully onto two chairs in the warehouse that were set up. Struggling in their seat as the two special agents tied the large muscular men. Dark surrounded their vision, perverted by the sacks that the agents used over their heads. 

Tommy peered over the wall him and Jimmy were crept behind to confirm that the agents brought the henchmen back. The plan didn’t stop there, as Tommy stepped out from behind the wall and crept up to the prisoner’s seats. He nodded to Mark silently which was the signal for him to pass him his chosen weapon. A thin, sharp knife. 

As he grasped the weapon, he then gave another signal which included Toy removing the sacks from their heads so the first sight they saw was himself. 

“Fuck!” The two henchmen cursed as they were freed from the sack. They remained struggled in their seat trying to release the tied hands, which required constant shuffling. 

“Where the fuck are we?? Are we in hell??” Park panicked jumping at the sight of Mark’s head leering over his. 

“You moron we’re in the warehouse.” Poppy, the calmest brother, hissed back at his whimpering brother as Mark threatened to hit him. 

“Oh my god...Tommy??” Park finally faced the front, avoiding Mark’s shenanigans, to see Tommy with a hideous grin on his face. “Tommy? Is that you?” 

“You’ve always been a fucking wimp, Park.” Tommy snorted back, stepping closer to the chairs to crouch down with the weapon behind his back. 

“Hey!” Park yelled back, offended. 

“He’s right you know.” Poppy remarked back, rolling his eyes. 

“Still, cheap shot.” the oldest brother sulked, kicking a tiny stone near his chair. 

“I haven’t got time for your childish behaviour.” Tommy stood up and hinted to someone in the back to come forward. 

“Tommy, this is Jimmy Karn’s warehouse what on Earth are you playing at-AAAAAAAAAA!!” Park abruptly let out a terrifying scream when he saw the figure approach out of the dark shadow of the room. “G-g-ghost!!” He screamed, shaking in his chair as the figure stopped near Tommy. 

“What?” Tommy spat back, he glanced up to Jimmy then back at Park. 

“J-Jimmy??” Park stuttered back “y-you’re alive??” 

“Well he’s obviously not a ghost for crying out loud.” Poppy snarled back, he was in shock too but this was hidden by the fact that he was more focused on picking on his brother. 

“Tommy...you didn’t kill him??” Park shrieked, astounded by the situation. 

The reminder that he failed to kill him, haunted him. Until now, Tommy learnt that no matter how much he wanted to kill him, he wouldn’t. So he paused before answering that question, and that pause raised a bit of concern in Jimmy’s gaze at him. 

“No I didn’t. I couldn’t.” Tommy replied back firmly, now releasing the weapon from behind his back. He glanced back up at Jimmy who still felt quite concerned. “He saved me.” 

_ I saved Jimmy on the first encounter. He saved me on the second encounter. _

There was a long hard stare from the two henchmen brothers, back and forth they kept glancing at each other. It was suspicious, Poppy was especially suspicious to Tommy with his reactions. It was as if he knew already. 

“Listen, you’re not fucking here to discuss that. What I wanna know is why the fuck did you two break into my house??” Tommy snarled back, raising his sharp knife which caused Park to squeal and shuffle backwards in his seat. 

“B-bro, Tommy b-bro.” He stuttered back, quivering. 

Tommy ignored his cowardice and approached Poppy instead, who remained suspiciously silent. “I wanna know why the fuck you stole the money in the sports bag that you gave to me in the first place.” 

“You’re wasting your time.” Poppy sighed back. 

But this answer was insufficient for the psychopath. “You fucking tell me right now, or I’ll fucking rip your insides out.” He snapped back, placing the knife right under Poppy’s chin. 

The youngest had remained calm up until that point, when it was noticed he began to quiver and burst out sweating. “I-I dont know...” 

“What the fuck do you mean you don’t know?!” Tommy yelled aggressively in his face, causing his spit to land on it. 

“Tommy, please!” Park shrieked back, “calm down!” 

Hearing this, he back away from Poppy. He wasn’t the reason Park had to react that way, it was because of Jimmy. Who stood there quite shaken up by Tommy’s attitude, which was so unlike him according to his special agents. 

He turned to Jimmy and threw the knife onto the ground, causing the other to slowly approach him and stroke his head. “It’s okay, PTommy.” He whispered softly, to calm him down. It was a technique he used, and it worked every time. 

Tommy had always been amazed by Jimmy. Always. The way Jimmy would always remain calm and would help him whenever he felt stressed. Just like in that situation. 

The Henchmen Brothers glanced towards each other then back to observing the two in front of them. Park began to realise the reason Tommy couldn’t kill him, purely because of Jimmy. The brothers had never met Jimmy before, what they knew about him was what Max would constantly nag them to remember. But they denied those facts watching him. 

“Tommy.” Park called, but instead Jimmy approached him instead 

“Just tell us why you broke into our house.” Jimmy said, as Tommy remained calm, he ushered him to join his side and grab hold of his hand. 

“We were instructed by Max to break in and collect the sports bag. We don’t know why, h-he never told us.” Park replied back, turning to Poppy who confirmed by nodding his head. 

“You dont know what he wants with it?” 

“No. We swear we don’t know anything else.” 

“Did you know that Jimmy was alive?” Tommy questioned, folding his arms. 

Park chuckled back “you can tell by my reaction I thought he was dead, he was a ghost.” 

“How could you see his ghost if you’ve not met him before?” Mark questioned, shaking Park’s chair to annoy him. 

“I’m not an idiot I know what he looks like.” 

“So none of you knew Jimmy was still alive? Not even Max?” Tommy anxiously questioned again, squeezing Jimmy’s hand. 

“I swear on Park’s life, he doesn’t know you’re alive.” Poppy replies back pointing at Jimmy. 

“Good.” Tommy confirmed, sighing frustratedly. 

What the fuck is Max up to?? I need to know... 

And it was as if they read his mind, because Poppy suddenly remembered an important fact. After they were released from the chairs, they told Tommy that there was one other agent Max hired who they all haven’t met yet. 

“A new agent?” Tommy questioned, glancing to Jimmy and his other agents who shrugged back with a blank expression. 

“I don’t think he’s as new as you, we’ve heard Max call him Zee?” Poppy replied back, his uncertainty with the facts was suspicious at first but Tommy denied these to give them a chance. 

“And we’ve never met him before, because he’s mostly out doing whatever Max instructs him to do.” Park added. 

“If this agent was around before I was then why did Max hire me?” He had so many questions for them to answer, but what he really craved was an answer from the man himself.

The henchmen brothers were afraid of him and Jimmy at first but they saw a different side to both of them. They were free to leave the warehouse but before they left they dragged Tommy to the side to converse with him in private. 

“Tommy, are you sure about this?” The older brother began. 

“Look, Max is bad news I know he is. You need to promise me you won’t tell him that Jimmy is still alive.” Tommy pleaded in desperation as the two brothers patted him on the back. 

“Of course we won’t. Jimmy means a lot to you doesn’t he? Do your best to keep him safe.” Poppy reassured with a genuine smile. 

“You can call on us to help you any time. That’s if you trust us. Do you trust us?” Park asked, the question which Tommy struggled with inside. 

It was reluctant but he gave the brothers a massive sigh of relief with a small nod as an answer. As a result, they exchanged phone numbers and the henchmen made their exit out of the warehouse. 

_ A new agent...why would Max not show this agent to anyone?  _

_ What if...just what if he knows..  _

_ Midnight  _

Tommy sat up in the dark bedroom, contemplating and stressing over the whole situation. For the first time in a long time, he had fell into a snooze a long with Jimmy next to him in bed. However, the creation of a disturbing dream caused a hindrance in this snooze. Which explained why he was awake, overthinking in the dark. 

Slowly, in order to not disturb Jimmy, he glanced his head towards him and continued contemplating. 

_ He could do better... why stick with me?  _

_ I’m not strong anymore, can I really protect him??.. I really want to protect him...  _

_ But I’m afraid... I’m unlovable.. _

“Tommy?” Unexpectedly, the youngster woke up from his snooze to see the other staring at the wall opposite quite miserably. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine go back to sleep.” He muttered in response, causing Jimmy to get out of his side of the bed and sit in front of him. 

“Bad dream?” 

Tommy nodded back, remaining silent as he felt too overwhelmed to talk. The dream was his memories as an adolescent. The ones that would haunt him. 

“Remember... when I told you about adolescent years at the behaviour school?” Tommy began, in a quiet manner. “I had a dream about it again.” 

“Again?” Jimmy questioned, with an anxious expression aimed at him. 

“I dreamt..about my parents. The parents I had.” He let out a sniffle as his eyes began the process of forming tears. 

“Your parents?” 

“I haven’t told you about this yet, but my parents were the ones who dumped me at the behaviour school where I met my therapist. T-they...left me..all alone....” his voice trembling as his face was covered with tears. Jimmy shuffled closer to him and reached for his hand, as Tommy continued “I finished therapy at the age of 15 and when I returned b-b-back home.. they were gone...they had deserted me.. moved out whilst I was away.” 

“Come here, it’s okay.” Jimmy’s soft, calm voice as he guided him to a gentle hug brushed Tommy’s heart strings. 

“I-I always thought they wanted to help me with my problem. I thought they cared. Instead all they cared about was what everyone else thought of them. They were accused of having a ‘mentally disturbed’ child and because of this they grew angry with me and left. That’s why I remained at the school until I was an adult.” 

Burying the tears in Jimmy’s shoulder, whilst he clutched onto him for support. This was the most he had ever opened up to someone, not even his childhood therapist caused him to burst into agonising sobbing. But with Jimmy, he couldn’t control it well. He just couldn’t. 

Tommy raised his head and wiped his eyes to gaze up at Jimmy’s eyes filled with warmth. “This is why I struggle to trust people.” 

“Tommy, do you trust me at least?” Jimmy asked in all seriousness, clutching onto his right hand. 

_I would do anything for him._

As Tommy remained silent in thought, Jimmy continued “I understand why you may not trust me, I so badly want you to trust me. You may think you’re unlovable because of your parents but you’re not.” 

_ Unlovable...  _

Slowly, his hands started to quiver again as his tears streamed down his sweaty face. “I am unlovable...” he whispered, but loud enough for Jimmy to hear and to respond by touching his cheeks softly. 

“You’re not. Because I love you.” He swallowed his tears, along with the pain he felt watching the man he loved burst into uncontrollable tears. 

_Jimmy...he loves me?_

“Jimmy.” They both leapt at each other, hugging each other tightly “I do trust you. And I love you.” 

Sobbing with happiness in the middle of the night, they squeezed each so lovingly and so tight. Tommy had never known what it was like to be loved so much by anyone, but Jimmy showed him. By caring for him in ways no one would. By the constant mesmerising gazes they would engage in. 

Which was what they were engaging in after they let go of each other. And by the emotional, soft pecks they would give each other on the cheek. 

So suddenly, Jimmy swept Tommy off of him and placed him gently on the bed, hovering over him. As the other gave him the brightest of all smiles, Jimmy leaned in slowly to brush it with his pursed lips. But Tommy wanted more, so swiftly he pulled him by the neck into a passionate, long lasting kiss. 

And as they broke the kiss, he giggled excitedly whilst stroking Jimmy’s hair. Before, the other leaned back down to continue the kissing. 

_ With Jimmy on my side, I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid to love anymore.  _

_ Because I love him with all my heart.  _


	12. New mission

It occurred to him, as the beaming natural morning light warmth affected the untidy bed he rested on, that maybe he was supposed to protect Jimmy. Gently leaning towards the giant sleeping puppy, he placed a tiny but effective peck on his cheek with a bright smile following afterwards. 

“Jimmy, Jimmy!” He squeaked as he waited for the other’s eyes to awaken properly. 

“Hmm?” Jimmy mumbled back, with half asleep grin on his face. 

“I just had a thought. Perhaps all this time I was maybe supposed to save you and protect you instead of follow Max’ orders!” Tommy responded back excited that he had this epiphany. 

“You know what?” Jimmy, finally awake, sat up with his eyes fixated on Tommy’s widening anticipating eyes. “You’re right. My PTommy is destined to protect me!” 

_ Destined. That’s the word..  _

Exuberant over his answer, he sat up with him and continued to lay sweet tiny pecks on his cheek. A mischievous beaming smile immediately appeared on Jimmy’s face when Tommy stopped, because it led to him returning the loving pecks back on his own cheek. 

“Thank you, Jimmy.” Tommy with his genuine humbleness replied back, clutching hold of Jimmy’s hand. Which wore the couple lightning bracelet they bought at the marketplace. “We’re a power couple.” 

“Because we’re strong together.” Jimmy raised Tommy’s hand with the shimmering bracelet and gave it a gentle kiss, glancing up up to him after giggling in bashfulness. 

It was the first positive thought Tommy had about himself, thinking that if this was true then he was succeeding in his own mission. Keeping Jimmy safe by living with him. Keeping him safe because he cared about him. 

However, there was a challenge to this that arose on the same day, which caused him those feelings he hated. Doubt and fear. 

_ 11:39am  _

Hand in hand, they strolled together down the quite narrow staircase. Dressed in almost similar clothes, as Jimmy had finally convinced the sensible psychopath to wear a bright T-shirt as opposed to the monotoned clothing he would wear regularly. So Tommy opted for a plain white T-shirt, to which he was discussing the worries of spilling coffee all over it with him as they made their way to the kitchen. 

“It’s ok Tommy, even if you somehow spill a jar of blood on your T-shirt I will still wash it for you.” Jimmy sighed, rolling his eyes at his constant protests and arguments for his clumsiness when it comes to spilling things. 

“How do you know I have jars of blood?” Tommy questioned back, getting the milk out of the fridge for his seemingly odd cereal. Noticing Jimmy’s concerned look, he stuttered back “W-well I-I used to have jars back when I was out killing. Not that I would collect it as a hobby like some kind of...psycho. W-w-well I am a psycho but-but not with you because I see you differently. Not that you’re different in a bad way you’re perfect t-to me-“ 

Giggling at his attempts to change the subject, Jimmy stroked his hair and kissed his forehead “you’re my psychopath, PTommy. I also used to collect the blood of those I had to kill, I would get my agents to do it.” He winked back, taking the milk bottle off of him. 

As they were preparing their late breakfast, things came to a halt. When a sudden, gut wrenching feeling overcame the two men following an unexpected booming knock on the door. 

“it can’t be our door right?” Jimmy asked nervously, in a quiet voice as Tommy ushered him so they could listen for it again. 

Boom! Boom! 

“What the fuck?” Tommy cursed to himself, debating on whether to answer it or not for he felt an overwhelming bad feeling about it. He turned to Jimmy and pushed him to the corner of the kitchen “stay here just in case.” 

_ It’s my job to protect Jimmy.  _

He repeated over and over at each step he took towards the front door, with one hand behind his back in case he had to reach for his knife. Facing the door, where another loud knock caused him to jump out of his skin, he took a deep breath before taking the plunge. 

“Hey Tommy.” 

It was him. The man he had been questioning about this whole time. 

“Max.” Tommy’s expression transformed from nervousness to complete anger “it’s fucking you.” He growled in a slightly louder voice, aimed at Jimmy back in the kitchen so he would stay put. 

“Woah, didn’t expect that response from you.” He remarked back with a smug smile, causing Tommy to struggle holding himself back from attacking him in broad daylight. 

“How the fuck do you know where I live?” He snarled back, avoiding eye contact with his arrogant expression planted on his face. 

Max sighed, acting in disappointment “with technology of course? Got my agents to search your name up and this was the address I got.” 

_ Why the fuck is he here?? Why?? _

“But you’ve ignored my texts.” Tommy huffed back, even though deep down he didn’t care about this. He had to go back to his old miserable ways with him, pretending to listen to him when really he wasn’t. It was the only way to keep him from suspecting anything. 

“Yeah, I know. It’s because I was preparing your next mission.” Max replied back arrogantly, stepping up towards Tommy who immediately held his arm out to block the entrance. “Don’t you want to discuss it? Let me in.” 

“Fucks sake.” Tommy scoffed to himself, miserably as he allowed Max to enter the hallway and shut the door. 

“Wow this is a shithole.” He snorted, examining the dust on the stairs and the mould before entering the living room which had more improvements than any of the other rooms. 

“The fuck did you just say?” Tommy snarled back, entering the living room to see Max already making himself comfortable by being nosy with the furniture despite saying this. 

“Although this room seems quite...better. An improvement. New rug?” He questioned, treading on a grey fluffy rug that was in the middle of the room purposely. 

“Yes, get your fucking shoes off of it.” 

Glaring back, he did so and following from that he turned to examine the windows which had new curtains set up. “You sure bought a lot of new things.” 

Suspicious of each other, Tommy held his tongue and folded his arms fiercely “yes, I bought it with the money I was given.” 

“Oh yes?” 

“The money the fucking brothers stole back from me.” He spat back, giving wild glares to the contract killer who maintained his arrogance. 

He would always hesitate and try to change the subject, an example being that he pointed to the ajar door to avoid speaking back. “Shut the door.” 

“Why?” Tommy hissed, increasingly becoming suspicious of his actions. 

_ Does he think someone could be listening?  _

Deep inside, Tommy knew who that someone was and was afraid Max knew too. He continued questioning “its not like anyone else can hear us.” 

Max let out a sigh and zoomed over to the door to shut it tight. Cursing in his mind, Tommy grew increasingly agitated, but he knew his impatience would be questioned by him if he raised it in such a way.

“You’re annoyed.” Max suddenly observed, striding provocatively around the living room. 

“Really? What gives it away?” Tommy huffed sarcastically, getting tired of standing so he flopped backwards onto the couch. 

“Listen, the reason I told the agents to bring back-“

“Steal.” Tommy interrupted with the correct wording, causing Max to stop pacing in front of him. 

He continued with emphasis on the word bring “the sports bag was because I have another mission for you. I know I ignored your messages but that’s because I was busy preparing this assignment. It’s a special one.” Max grinned quite obnoxiously, revealing a sealed file from his inside coat pocket. 

_Another mission?? This..is suspicious._

“That’s the reason?” 

_ I don’t want to do it... _

“If you complete this mission you will receive double the amount of money you received in the bag before you spent it.” Max explained harshly, ushering Tommy to stand up and collect the file off of him. 

“Can’t you fucking give the mission to another agent?” Tommy snarled back, standing up reluctantly. 

“What other agent?” Max shrugged, acting innocent. “The H brothers have separate jobs to complete. You don’t want to do a job?” He sighed, still ushering him to come closer to him. 

But for a different reason. 

As Tommy hesitantly did so, he was forcefully grabbed by his white T-shirt and pulled closer to his menacing stare “no one fucking disobeys me, understand? If you want to fucking live, you do this mission.” He threatened. 

Tommy’s confidence with disputing threats caused him to grin mischievously “I’d like to see you fucking try and kill me. I’m not going to be your fucking robot.”

Max growled lowly back, his expression increasing with anger. But he shoved the other away from him and let out an exasperated sigh “who’s a robot? Tommy, just look at the assignment and see for yourself. It’s just ordinary killing.” He chucked the file towards him, as he caught it he opened it impatiently. 

He only witnessed the top of the paper file. Which had the name of one of the people he was assigned with, causing Tommy to freeze on the spot. A horrific expression appeared on his face, as he reread the surname. That he dreadfully recognised. 

_ Kritsanaphan.  _

In his mind, was the flashback of Jimmy repeating that name. Kritsanaphan. Feeling Max’ eyes fixated on his reaction, he quickly pulled the full paper out of the file and joked in a quivering voice “you want me to kill Jimmy again?” 

Max laughed back at his joke and shook his head “of course not, as you can see it’s his family.”

_ Jimmy’s family... JIMMY’S FAMILY??  _

_ M-Max wants M-ME to kill his family?? ME??  _

Uncontrollable sweat began dripping down his face, soaking the back of his T-shirt as the paper he held in his hand showed pictures of Jimmy’s family members. His mother, his father and his brother. Out of one. 

“Max..” he called, unbelievably without stuttering as he was trying not to hint the panic he felt inside. “You want me to kill his family?” 

“See? That’s why it’s so special!” Max exclaimed excitedly, patting him on the back with an exclaim in disgust due to the sweat. “You need a shower.” 

_ Fuck you Max! Fuck! There is no fucking way- _

“Fuck off.” Tommy snapped back, throwing the piece of paper to the floor. 

“Okay sorry I was just saying.” Max shrugged at his reaction, acting surprised. 

“Fuck you, if you think I’m going to assassinate a whole family! Fuck you!” He exploded on him, landing a hard punch across his face causing him to fly backwards and crash into a shelf. 

_ I can’t. I won’t...Jimmy..  _

“Woah!” Max yelled back, struggling to stand up due to the shock from his reaction. “Tommy, calm down! Calm.. down.” 

Heaving, gasping for breath, Tommy collapsed his head into his hands and let out an agonising screech. He was having a mild panicattack. But Jimmy couldn’t be there to help him. All this time, he moved from the corner to hunched just outside the kitchen door but near to the living room wall so he could hear well. 

“I won’t fucking do it. I won’t.” Tommy spat back, hyperventilating and panting. 

Astonished, Max stayed well away from him and waited patiently for him to remain calm. “Tommy, you ok?” 

_ I-I need water...but I don’t want Jimmy to see me like this...  _

The hyperventilating stopped after a few minutes of pausing to gain his breath back, the anger and pain inside still remained. But he made a promise to hold it all in, any more lashing out would cause Max to suspect him even more. 

When he noticed Tommy was beginning to sweat again, he burst laughing in mockery “why are you so affected by this? It’s not as if you have parents.” 

_...what? _

Curling his fists in rage, he felt the veins in his forehead pop out “what the fuck did you just say?” 

Arrogantly, Max decides to approach him again smirking “you don’t have proper parents, do you?” 

“Fuck you!” Tommy roared back, however this time his aimed punch was stopped by his hand. 

“I’ve done my research. Your parents abandoned you, right?” Max questioned back, smugly. Clutching hold of his hand, he grinned “doesn’t that make you angry?” 

_ He’s...manipulating me. The only person I’m angry at is you. Fuck you!  _

Continuing with his manipulation, Tommy shut his eyes to block his voice “parents are supposed to love you no matter what but yours didn’t bother, they made you feel unloved and miserable. Don’t you resent them? Don’t you resent every single person for having the one thing you will never have?”

“Shut up!!” Again, pushing him away did no good to him. 

So he broke his promise, and struck his knife in his pocket and into Max’ arm. Delving the knife deep in, aggressively. Grinning as the other yelled in immense pain. 

_ I am not unloved, Jimmy loves me. I love Jimmy.  _

_ His parents will remain untouched by you or any agent. Ever.  _

“Max, I’m not fucking doing it. Kill me if you must but i won’t do it.” Tommy snarled, thrusting the knife out of his arm to aim back at Max who collapsed to the floor. 

Holding onto his wound, with his other hand he held onto a table on the side to help stand himself upright. “It’s your mission. If you don’t do it, I’ll reveal to everyone that you’re a psychopathic killer and you will be locked away for life.” He spat back sinisterly, with blood dribbling from his mouth. 

“You wouldnt go to the police.” Tommy sneered back. 

“I would for you. Or would you rather die?” Max threatened, aggressively as he kicked the knife out of his hand across the room. 

_ Kill me. It’s the only way.  _

Before he could answer, Max fought him many times before reaching his hands to his neck, threatening strangulation. “W-w-why are y-you s-so bothered b-by him still??” Tommy managed to question despite the fact he was being choked. 

After hearing this, he finally let go. “Because I don’t want anyone related to him to exist.” Watching Tommy cough and splutter, he smirked and threw the paper file back to him “have fun.” 

  
  


Before the psychopath could chase him down, he was off out of the house. Tommy raced to the hallway, the paper with the information all on it slipping to the floor was caught by Jimmy who stood behind him frozen in shock. 

“M-M-My f-family?” Jimmy’s voice quivered, his hands emotionally shaking the piece of paper he read. 

He completely forgot about Jimmy, turning around he saw the angry tears form and stream down his face. “Jimmy..” 

“My fucking family?? I’m going to kill him.” Jimmy screamed back, ripping the paper and angrily attempting to storm out of the house to catch up with Max. 

“Jimmy no!” However, Tommy grabbed hold of him and held him back from carrying out something ridiculous. 

“I’m going to fucking kill him!!” He yelled back, sobbing at the same time. As Jimmy broke down to the floor, sobbing loudly, Tommy held him tight in his arms attempting to calm him down with the ways he would calm himself down. 

_ My Jimmy. I won’t let this happen.  _

“Jimmy, look at me.” Tommy calmly whispered to him after a while, stroking his hair. 

“PTommy, you won’t-“ 

“Of course I fucking won’t! Nobody will get to your parents especially Max.” He growled at his name, clutching Jimmy tightly. “We’re going to kill him first.” 

“Yes!” Jimmy exclaimed, wiping the tears. He stood up after Tommy let go of him, his fists curled up. “We will kill him.” 

They both glanced at each other after, and after some time they both gave each other a warm emotional smile. To say that everything would be okay. He sent Jimmy into the living room to sit down and calm down still, whilst he rushed to find his phone. To call all of his agents, and the H brothers. 

_ Max we’re coming for you. We’ve got a plan and we will succeed. Jimmy is mine, and you won’t harm him or anyone related to him.  _

_ If it means I die, then so be it.  _

_ I’m doing this for Jimmy, the man I love.  _


	13. The plan.

His mother, father and his older brother were on that list. From what he also learnt from the file Max gave was their home address and province - Rayong. It was about 2 hours away from the area they lived in, from what Jimmy had informed him of. As he was sitting there, deeply contemplating, trying to remain calm and not lose his temper. Not joining in the group, where Tommy was discussing the plan and tactics. 

Park, Poppy, Mark and Toy arrived at their home half an hour after they called them, locked in the living room with the curtains and windows shut, just in case. Tommy, standing up, after explaining part of the situation they were in, managed to prise the piece of paper with the official information on it off of Jimmy who was still silent. He chucked it onto the coffee table they surrounded, causing a ruckus as to who would read it first. 

“Ow!” Park exclaimed, after being smacked by Mark who then snatched the paper from him after he gained it. 

“This is what Max gave you?” Toy questioned, after receiving a silent nod from Tommy he continued to read it with Mark. 

“It is his family.” Mark muttered, turning the paper around to read the information on the back. “What the fuck?” 

“What does he want with his family??” Park questioned, to himself as he snatched the paper back for his brother to read. 

“He wants them dead.” Tommy spat back, sternly with his arms folded “I don’t exactly understand why. But we won’t let it happen.” 

“Exactly we won’t. So what’s the plan?” Toy asked, cautiously staring at Jimmy who was still staring at the floor in seriousness. 

Tommy also turned to him, overwhelmingly anxious due to the fact that he hadn’t spoken to him in ages. He knew he was obviously angry and upset, he was trying to stay strong and hold it in. Trying not to think about it. But that was all that Jimmy could do. 

“The plan is we kill Max before he can get anywhere near his parents.” Tommy explained, pacing the room slowly. He stopped in front of the henchmen brothers, who gave the paper back to him. “You two are closest to Max than I am. You seriously didn’t know he was planning this?” 

“Tommy, I swear we didn’t know about this.” Poppy replied back almost instantly. “He doesn’t tell us that much.” He turned to his brother who also nodded in agreement. 

“Max told me you both have another mission.” 

“What? What mission?” Park asked back, both of them shrugged. 

Because they’ve been with Max the longest, Tommy withheld his suspicions towards them and indeed carried on questioning them. “You expect me to believe that Max hasn’t given you any missions?” 

“I mean we haven’t got any recent missions but-“ 

“Stop questioning them.” Jimmy finally spoke up, causing all of them to react. 

“Jimmy.” Tommy’s serious behaviour was pushed to the side as he paced back towards him, anxiously. “Are you okay?” 

Returning a feeble smile, he grabbed hold of Tommy’s hands, who knelt down in front of him. “I’m okay. Just get on with the plan.” 

Tommy, with a heartwarming smile, stood up and sat next to him on the sofa. “The plan starts with a distraction. So this is where the brothers come in, they will distract Max.”

“How?” Poppy asked, listening intently. 

“I don’t know just make something up, but nothing stupid we don’t want him to get suspicious.” Tommy replied back, his head aimed at Park when he mentioned the word stupid which caused him to glare back. 

“Why did you turn to me when you said stupid?” Park whined, childishly folding his arms. 

“Because you’re an idiot.” Tommy blatantly replied back, glaring back at him. With the others, including his brother nodding at him, he shrugged back. Tommy continued “As Max is getting distracted, Mark and Toy will take out his other agents and bodyguard types.” 

Mark and Toy glanced at each other, then back to him “what about you then?” Mark asked. 

“As Park and Poppy are distracting Max, I will approach him from behind and attack him. Should be easy.” Tommy explained, trying his best not to sound too arrogant. 

Listening to this, Jimmy raised his head with a confused expression on his face “so what about me?” 

“Oh yeah, you forgot about Jimmy.” Park added, grinning before Tommy gave him a dirty look back. 

_My main objective is to not let Jimmy get hurt. He must be protected..._

“Jimmy will be protecting his family back in Rayong.” Tommy instructed, giving a reassuring smile to the other sat next to him. 

“Sorry, what??” Jimmy cried out, outraged by this plan “I’m coming with you!”

“Jimmy, no! I’m sorry but-“ 

“I want to kill Max, he’s the one who wants to kill my family!” Jimmy, becoming flustered, frowned and turned his face away from his. 

What hurt him more than anything was that he knew inside Tommy’s intentions were good. But he had been rivals with Max since the beginning, all the hatred he had against him he wanted to put to use. If he can’t kill him when he has the chance to then what good was he as the head contract killer? 

Conflicted, he avoided the other as he tried his best to explain himself “Jimmy, it’s your family. You should be the one to go there and protect them. How do you think they would feel if we sent a stranger over to their house saying they have to protect them from some manipulative crazy contract killer out to kill them? They don’t know about your job.” 

He was right. Hearing this, he realised that his parents had no clue of his current business and that they would completely freak out if they found out that their son was involved in such criminal activity like this. After having time to think, Jimmy faced back to him and agreed with the plan. His heart felt heavy as he made the decision, but Tommy made it a lot easier for him as he pulled him into a supportive hug.

“Also, Max doesn’t know you’re still alive.” Mark added, abruptly causing Tommy to break the hug up and give him a dirty look. With Toy hitting the back of his head in response. 

Ensuring that everyone knew their roles was a key element of the plan, repetition was vital. Although it took several hours, for Tommy to explain every single thing due to the several amounts of small unnecessary questions that popped up, mainly from Park. The added exhausted groans, mainly from his brother, caused the explaining to go on even longer. Not to mention the break they had when their takeaway food arrived. Sighing immensely, Tommy grew agitated. It was as if he was teaching a class of irritating 11 year olds, apart from Jimmy who was so exhausted that halfway through everything he fell asleep. 

  
  


_ 00:30  _

“Is everyone clear on the plan?” Tommy finally asked, impatiently even though he knew he had to wait for an answer from the agents. 

Mark, who was resting his eyes after drinking multiple shots of beer, was judged by Toy who was really the only one fully awake there. Raising his hand in the air, he sat up and nodded “yes sir, clear!” 

“Don’t fucking call me sir.” Tommy snapped back, causing Poppy who was also drifting into a snooze to sit bolt upright. “Wake up!” 

“Not fair! You let Jimmy go to sleep!” Park complained, getting up from the floor where he joined in the snoozing contest. 

“Jimmy understands the plan, he’s allowed to sleep.” Tommy replied back, folding his arms at him. He glanced towards Jimmy who was curled up on the sofa, snoring softly. A sight that made him beam with joy as he stroked his head. 

He turned back to Park who was cooing in drowsiness at him “aww, cute!” 

“Shut the fuck up! You’re the reason he’s tired.” 

“I understand it now, Tommy! I honestly do!” Park protested, clinging onto Poppy to help himself sit back up on the sofa. 

“For fucks sake! When can we fucking go?” Toy burst out in agitation, causing everyone to stare at him in shock. 

In frustration, Tommy stood up and pointed at them all “has seriously no one been listening?? You guys have to stay here just in case something happens in the night!” 

“I remember he said that, along with the blue ducks in that pool banana on that island.” Mark slurred, leaning his head on Toy’s shoulder to continue with his fantastically weird dream.

_Sounds like a boring dream. Nobody killing each other._

“I’m not even gonna respond to that.” Tommy sighed in response. 

_Jesus Christ, if Jimmy hasn’t taken my strength these idiots certainly have._

The living room finally settled down, with the agents snoring loudly on the sofa and the floors. Whilst half awake Jimmy and Tommy made their way to the bedroom, with a lot to contemplate. Tomorrow they were to act on the plan, because Tommy wanted the mission completed as soon as possible. 

_ It shouldn’t be a difficult job, right? _

Laying in bed, he felt not at all confident in himself. He knew he shouldn’t compare Jimmy to Max, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t kill Jimmy, because he fell in love with him instead. Even after this though, he struggled to gain his strength back. His urges washed away from him, which mainly gave him the energy to carry out the killings he would do so with much ease. 

Max’ manipulation was what angered him the most, that was the one characteristic Tommy despised in a person. Because it was linked to that psychological disorder of a sociopath. 

What he indeed realised that night was that he was manipulated from the start by Max to view Jimmy as an evil, degrading creature that deserved to die. 

_ I was manipulated to see Jimmy as a manipulator, by the actual manipulator.  _

A tongue twister that Tommy wasn’t afraid to say to his face. When they meet. 

_ Late afternoon, Tommy’s residence.  _

Deja vu from all of them sitting round the table in the living room in the same seats. Discussing the same topic. After wolfing down the leftovers of the takeaway from the night before, Tommy and the rest waited for Jimmy who was trying to phone his parents to inform them of his arrival later on. 

He entered back into the living room, sighing and shaking his head at Tommy to let him know he failed to reach them. “I guess it will have to be a sudden arrival.” He shrugged as he sat back down again. 

“Are you sure you will be safe going home on your own?” Tommy asked anxiously, holding onto Jimmy’s hand.

“I’ll be okay, PTommy! I’ll have my helmet on and I’ll be wearing my mask.” Jimmy smiled confidently back, placing Tommy’s hand to his heart. “My PTommy is protecting me.” 

“But what if-“ 

“PTommy, don’t worry. Ok?” His reason for questioning was due to the lack of self confidence Tommy was feeling.Jimmy beamed at him first, then turned to the attention of his agents who were also feeling slightly anxious. “Everyone, I’ll be fine! Mark, you remember when I cracked the skull of one of the gang members from before?” 

“Oh my god, yes I remember that day was wild! Like I actually saw part of that dude’s brain and I nearly threw up-“ Mark squealed excitedly, although he calmed down automatically after Toy nudged him slight. 

“I need to bring the motorcycle round the front to the garden.” Jimmy announced standing up, but he was pulled back down by the now sweating psychopath. 

“I’ll do it, it’s fine.” Tommy stood up in response, clinging onto his hand. Feeling tense. 

“Tommy, it’s okay. I’m just bringing my motorcycle back.” Jimmy smiled, getting a tissue out of his pocket to wipe the sweat from his forehead. 

Handing the tissue to him, he let go off Tommy’s grip and left the living room. Overwhelmingly feeling shaky, Tommy day back down on the sofa. He was all confident with the plan last night, but he just couldn’t contain the sudden pain and anxiety he felt. The fear that something bad would happen to Jimmy or his family. 

“Tommy, are you okay?” Poppy asked, noticing his impatience in waiting for Jimmy to return. 

“No I’m fucking not okay!” Tommy bellowed back, with his head in his hands. 

  
  


Silence engulfed the living room, silence which he needed to get his thoughts straight. The silence lasted several minutes, broken when Tommy stood up suddenly, due to his vibrating phone in his pocket. 

He took his phone out to see who was ringing him. And when it was that name that flashed a him, he froze in his spot. 

_ No..no he couldn’t have. He couldn’t have... _

“What is it??” The agents simultaneously questioned, growing increasingly concerned by Tommy’s aggressive expression. 

Gritting his teeth in anger and pain, he revealed the person who was calling him. Max. 

“What the fuck?!” They all cried out, beginning to panic about the reason he was calling until the psychopath yelled at them to be quiet. 

_ Jimmy...he’s not coming back.  _

When the room was filled with silence yet again, Tommy answered the phone and put it to his ear. 

“You couldn’t keep him hidden for long, Tommy.” Max’ smug voice caused his face to curl up in rage. 

“What the fuck have you done to him?!” Tommy roared, aggressively at him through the phone. Seething in absolute rage. 

“Find out yourself. Come and fucking collect him at his own warehouse.” Max’ chuckled at him arrogantly before hanging up the call. 

Tommy remained frozen in his spot. Frozen in speech. Because he knew that if he spoke he would burst into flames. The agents awaited a response, but also deep down knew what had happened. 

_ He-he took him. It’s all because of me. In a matter of minutes...it’s my fault.  _

“The plan is going ahead now.” Tommy murmured finally after minutes of standing in overwhelming shock and anger. 

“What?” Toy replied back, in confusion. 

“We’re going to kill Max. I’m going to fucking kill him.”


	14. The Killing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: contains descriptive violence.

_ How did we get into this scenario.. just how? If Jimmy is the sweet harmless baby that he is then why is Max this way towards him?  _

_ Not that I’m doubting Jimmy.. I couldn’t. It’s just Max, I need to know why.  _

However, the most important thought; a broken record in Tommy’s shattered mind. 

_I said I would protect Jimmy, but I failed. Because that’s all I am. A failure._

As this was all that was frantically pacing through his mind, he wasn’t listening to the agents surrounding him. Also in a slight panic waiting for instructions. The men weren’t ready to act right now, as all their weapons remained at the warehouse, where Jimmy apparently was. With the condition of it unknown, Tommy was in a daze trying figure out a way for them to enter discreetly until they would see Max’ assumed extra agents guarding. Waiting for an attack. That he was losing confidence in.

“Tommy!” Toy shook the psychopath who was quivering in rage in his overthought thoughts. 

He acknowledged his pleading and finally turned to address each and every one of the agents in his home. “Jimmy is being held at the warehouse with Max and his agents. So there is a change in plan, we all head there but before we reach there I will break off and try and find another way in whilst you all will enter the main way. I will try to find Jimmy and release him.” 

“What about our weapons??” Park asked anxiously, they all stared at him and then back to Tommy who let out a sigh.

“Really Park? I think you all can handle them.” 

“What about you then?” Mark asked back as him and Toy began to wear their protective gear straps that they would always carry with them. 

Tommy has always relied on weapons, his pocket knife, his collection of knives. So he ignored the question and walked off to the kitchen where he took out the smallest knife in the draw and placed it in his back trouser pocket. 

“Tommy.” Mark called, as the other came out the kitchen to see the agents waiting near the front door. “What if...what if Max has already.. what if-“ 

He paused, adhering to Tommy’s rather aggressive gaze. Clutching his fists, with his eyes closed to contain in his intense rage fuelled by anxiety and panic. About what that situation. “He wouldn’t. He wants me to go there. It wouldn’t be fun for him to just kill him. He wants me to witness it. To suffer.” 

The agents glanced at each other with apprehension then back to Tommy, who was in the same position, but shuddering. “Tommy, are you okay?” Poppy asked. 

“You guys go first.” Tommy whimpered, breathing heavily, flushing bright red as he forced his eyes shut. 

He knew it was coming, but he couldn’t do anything to stop it. As soon as he heard the quick slam of the front door, he collapsed onto his knees wheezing and clutching to his chest in agitation. 

_ This isn’t the time for...a fucking panic attack.  _

No one was there to keep him calm. Jimmy wasn’t there. 

_ Flashback - 2 days ago  _

Tommy was always described as a closed book. By his long time childhood therapist. At the start of every forced upon session he would sit there in silence. He remembered his first ever session with a man who gave the first impression of a wicked old mad scientist, it was frightening. Because all he wanted to do was go home; to go to his bedroom and sit in the corner containing his unusual twisted thoughts that as a fifteen year old at the time, he would have. 

Over time, he became used to his therapist’s presence as so did the other; hence the reason his strict approach at the beginning settled down as he realised he wasn’t getting anything out of Tommy. Only then, did he begin to share his thoughts and feelings with him. But only with him, because he was taught to don’t trust anyone straight away and to always be aware. 

Which was why it took a quite a while for Tommy to feel comfortable to share his past with Jimmy. Since Jimmy was determined to share his. 

“I didn’t really get treatment when I was a teenager.” Jimmy began his story, watching the other let out smoke from a cigarette next to him on the outside step from their garden door. “Well, my behaviour wasn’t-“ 

“Abnormal? Disruptive? Embarrassing? Plain irritating? Embarrassing...” Tommy abruptly sighed to himself. 

As the voice of his therapist reported in his mind, reading from his information file on himself “your behaviour is embarrassing.” 

Tommy remembered asking back who said that about him, the answer was his own parents. 

Jimmy, paused patiently, feeling slightly uncomfortable but anxious. “Sorry about that. Carry on.” Tommy replied back, timidly stroking his back to make him feel at ease again. 

“Let’s just say my parents thought it was just anti social behaviour and there was nothing more they could do about it. It was the teachers at the school that really used to aggravate my mental state.” 

“How did you control it? I mean.. you’re so calm and confident right now.” Tommy, intrigued, commented back as he gazed up at him. 

“It was similar to your way, I formed a gang which is now my contract agency and used all my frustration and urges in that job.” Jimmy grinned back, taking a break from speaking to drink from his can. 

Silence erupted, as Tommy, putting out his cigarette, contemplated his past life. All this time he thought talking about the past with others wasn’t a good idea. He felt a mockery of his own existence. And therefore thought that others would mock him and misunderstand him. Except for his therapist, although the paranoia he suffered caused him to question his sincerity back then. 

But talking to Jimmy, so openly, made him realise that he had to give others a chance to get to know him, he never realised how difficult he found this to be until he discussed it for the first time with him. 

“We’re all good people in our own way.” Jimmy broke the silence with that profound sentence that caused Tommy to turn to him in amazement. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Everyone has a good side to them as well as a bad side. Whenever you’re feeling down, remember that I see your good side. You’re a good person, PTommy!” Jimmy beamed back to him, widely as he put his arm round him. 

“Jimmy, you’re a good person too.” Tommy warmly complimented, smiling. Those sentences caused a change in mood, allowing him to feel more relaxed. He nested his head on his shoulder and gazed up to the clouds together. 

_ He’s amazing, truly the best thing to happen to me.  Tommy thought at the time. _

————-

_ He’s taken away from me. But I’ll get him back, I won’t stop fighting. _

The flashback had a sort of calming effect on Tommy, enough to lift him off the ground and prepare to enter the warehouse. Grabbing his unnamed essentials, he put his mask on and let out a sigh before leaving the house. He didn’t care that he was suspiciously dressed, in a white T-shirt and black jeans with supported his hidden knives whilst on his head he wore his normal black beanie. He was ready, or at least seemed it. The anger he continually felt caused him to stroll so aggressively towards the warehouse. In case anyone decided to surprise him on the way. 

Reaching the warehouse entrance, he suspiciously glanced round because at that moment it was deserted. But it didn’t feel this way. So Tommy took a step backwards, ending up back on the street. He checked left and right, as there were no signs of his agents that were meant to be sticking to the plan. 

_ It has to be a trap. It’s so quiet.  _

Tommy didn’t know what kind of trap it could be, but no matter what it would be he wouldn’t back out. Hesitating, he stepped inside the entrance to peek round the main site. The tables were arranged normally, no signs of destruction. Which wasn’t what Tommy wanted to see.

Facing the danger itself, he strutted into the warehouse to find no bodies, dead or alive, but traces of blood on the stone paving ground. The coincidentally formed a trail leading to the back room, where Tommy was emotionally held last time. Cautiously creeping up to the door, he knew something wasn’t right. 

As if his psychopathic sense were tingling, he instinctively reached into his back pocket and turned back to slash the awaiting enemy agent getting ready to pounce on him. Stricking his stomach, the unknown agent fell to the ground. 

Tommy wasn’t ready to enter room, because as his instincts were correct the last time, he turned to the right to see another agent racing to attack him but ever so getting kicked blasting backwards, hitting the wall, by his boots. 

Fighting the many agents that approached him wasn’t tough, but what he was merely confused about was were his own agents were. Where were Mark and Toy? By then, Tommy had already assumed the henchmen brothers were not following his plan too just like the rest. On a normal day for him, he would be irritated by the fact that they completely disobeyed him and his plan. 

But today he was displaying all his rage on that one someone. 

The warehouse was found to have bodies in it now, unconscious bodies of Max’ agents. Hastily, Tommy kicked the door of that room down forcefully several times until it finally gave way and crashed to the ground. To reveal, a sight so mortifying, so horrifying, shocking. Even this description wasn’t enough to describe what he witnessed. 

He couldn’t even see the actual colour of his shirt. As it was all engulfed in overflowing blood stains, that poured out his mouth. His head hanging over, complete with painful looking bruises. He was unrecognisable in this degrading mess. Slumped, with his hands agonisingly tied round the back of the chair. But despite all of this, he was still managing to move his head around and mutter incoherent words. 

Tommy, frozen in shock, overwhelmed with such confusion, rage and frustration witnessed his unrecognisable Jimmy beaten up badly. He witnessed him whimpering due to the immense suffering and pain he must’ve felt. 

_ W-w-why...why?! WHY?!  _

Tommy’s first instinct, fuelled by his urgency to get him to safety, was to mend his bleeding from the scars on his one arm and then untie him. Jimmy, slowly losing consciousness, managed to open his eyes - even with the blurry images he mumbled who he thought he could see. “P...P’Tommy?” 

It was a quiet mumble, but Tommy heard it so clearly and clasped his hand round Jimmy’s face “it’s okay, I’m here now-“ 

But he couldn’t finish his sentence, as he was unexpectedly dragged away by two otheragents. 

“No! Fucking let go of me!” Tommy shouted, however he received a quick blow to the stomach by one of the agents in response. Unable to move as the second agents tightly grabbed hold of his arms. 

The agent continued with the violent blows to the stomach, causing Tommy to groan in pain and try to wiggle out of their grip. “L-Let g-go of me...” He grumbled in immense pain, dropping his head down. He closed his eyes, waiting for the other round of punches. 

But he suddenly heard footsteps, coming from the front that wasn’t as discreet as another agent would be. “Let go of him.” The booming authoritative voice of the man that had arrived caused the agents to immediately surrender, therefore releasing Tommy who clutched his stomach with his freed hand. 

He knew that voice. The man that enraged him so much, releasing the violent beast from within. 

“Max.” Tommy growled, raising himself off the ground. Scrunching his face to an expression fuelled with rage whilst clenching his fists in the sinister man’s direction. 

“You came.” Max announced, strolling towards him In smugness unbearable to the other. He removed Tommy’s mask from him, gleefully “I’d like to thank you Tommy.” 

“I’ve done nothing for you, you fucking prick!” He outrageously spat back, shoving Max away. But he failed to deter him, so to agitate him even more, Max approached him even closer. 

“But you have.” Max whispered, smirking as he moved backwards closer to the semi conscious Jimmy, who was heavily breathing but unable to speak. “You made it easy, he’s weak.” 

Chuckling sinisterly, Max viciously punched him across the face and grabbed hold of the wooden chair, now soaked in dry blood. Pulling it further away from Tommy, who was increasingly becoming red with hot anger. 

_ Seeing him like this... _

“You fucking bastard!“ ignoring the physical pain, he raced towards him. 

“Tommy, allow me to explain-“ but before Max could finish his sentence, the psychopath already aimed his violent punches at him. 

He had already been punched by him before, but today was different. Today, Tommy was uncontrollably angry. Today, he decided to let his psychopathic urges rule him. Therefore, he didn’t stop in his violent behaviour when Max fell backwards to the ground. Continually aggressively kicking him, Tommy used all his strength on him. Panting wildly, he raised a sinister grin back as his hand edged to his back pocket to finish him off. 

“You think you can do this to my Jimmy? You fucking-“ his snarls abruptly stopped, when Max raised his hands to try to complete the sentence he once began. 

“Tommy, I didn’t do this to him!” He exclaimed, but not with innocence. In complete arrogance. 

Because he knew Tommy was too focused on himself to turn around. It was too late. 

“I did.” A frightening deep voiced agent behind, thrusted metal chains around Tommy’s neck. Pulling on on the chains causing the other to choke due to strangulation. 

“Zee, don’t kill him yet.” Max ordered, as he managed to stand up properly. 

_ Z-Zee...the new agent.. _

Fighting for breath, he grabbed onto the chains and tried his best to remove them from his neck, as the aggressive agent dragged him backwards. Causing a struggle between the two, other agent were called to get involved. They forcefully tied Tommy’s hands round the back with smaller tighter chains. 

After persuasion, Zee, the agent he really wasn’t fond on at the moment, removed the chains from his neck. Allowing Tommy to gain his breath back, although he was unable to move due to the other agents that held him tightly down. 

The smugness returned, approaching Tommy with less apprehension now as it was made less likely the psychopath would attack him by the restraints. 

_ This isn’t going to plan. My Jimmy...I will get to you. I will. No matter what.  _

_ Even if it means I am the sacrifice.  _

It felt like Tommy had just entered the warehouse all on his own, where were his agents? Where were Mark and Toy? But in all honesty, he had more important things to consider. Like how he was going to save Jimmy, even if it meant taking on all of them on his own. 

At the moment however, with his body restricted, he felt powerless. He had nowhere to look, nowhere to turn to. No way to avoid Max’ evil and disturbing advances. 

“For a moment there, I thought you were actually going to kill me.” Max smirked, in his most childish mocking voice. “But, then again, you wouldn’t be able to-“ 

“You wanna fucking see if I can?” Tommy hissed aggressively back, aiming a spit of saliva towards his face. When it hit his cheek, Max’ smirk faded into a hideous, evil expression. He kicked him viciously in the stomach, where Tommy was already feeling vulnerable. 

“You couldn’t kill Jimmy though.“ 

“No. Because I realised he isn’t the bad guy, it’s you instead.” Tommy scowled back, huffing and growling to suppress his anger. Although, the response from Max didn’t help. A loud mocking snigger. The other to continued nonetheless “you manipulated me to think he was the bad guy. That he was an evil sociopath. You’re the sociopath.” 

And as that was said, Max erupted into wicked, insane laughter. Completely insane. Tommy thought he had seen the face of evil and manipulation before, on Jimmy’s face. But he realised then that he was wrong, nothing could compare to that appearance of horrific monstrosity. 

The suppression of emotions played havoc on his chest, feeling physical pain all around his body. Trapped both sides by the agents, unable to move. He managed to raise his head high enough to see him, drifting in and out of consciousness. 

As every second went by watching Jimmy, pieces of his heart would break and his mental capacity would deteriorate. Slowly, Tommy eased his suppressions but broke down into painful sobs instead of rage. 

Unbelievably stunned, Max’ jaw dropped when he saw the tears roll down his cheeks. Bursting into more mocking sniggers, he approached him arrogantly “this is it. I finally get to see the real you. You’re weak, you’re both weak. But thanks to you, you’ve made it easier for me to do the job myself. You hate being called weak, don’t you?” 

“Fuck you!” Tommy screamed in aggravation, panting and breathing heavily. His heart pounding, his chest in immense pain. He shut his eyes, but this couldn’t control the flow of his tears. 

For the first time in his life, he felt worth living. And it was all because of Jimmy, all because of his sweet, harmless self. He felt truly cared for. He felt truly happy because he found someone he really cared about too. 

“Why do you hate him so much?! Why?!” He screeched back, aggressively trying again to remove himself from the grips of the agents. Receiving another brutal kick to the chest from Zee, Tommy didnt give up trying to set himself free. 

His failed attempts however caused Max to grin “why do I hate Jimmy? Isn’t it obvious? Knowing that he has access to all the CCTV footages everywhere, doesn’t that annoy you? Knowing that someone has seen your behaviour and acts through CCTV and can use it against you?” He manipulatively retorted in his ear. 

Unexpectedly, as Max continued his irrelevant explanations, Tommy managed to glimpse upwards and spot the familiar faces he’d longed to see. Behind the blood splattered chair that Jimmy was tied to, he finally saw his agents Mark and Toy take careful steps towards it. They acknowledged him by giving him an affirmative nod. 

Seeing them, lifted a weight off Tommy’s troubled mind as he began to formulate now a confident way to free himself. Whilst this was taking place, Mark and Toy crept further forwards taking turns hiding behind walls before they edged closer to one of the agents, Zee, who returned to guarding the entrance of the warehouse. 

With his plan formulated, Tommy went back to continuing to struggle in his position. But in actuality, as Max had finished his explaining, he had finally gained enough room to retrieve his knife from his pocket. Slicing free the metal chains from his wrist; a trick Tommy had learnt a while back. 

“You see, I could’ve killed Jimmy when I first captured him. But I wanted to perform it right in front of you to make you suffer. Without that fucking retard, there will be records of me. My gang. Even you. Don’t you want to be free?” Max smirked, standing up right again to brush his shoulders off. He turned to the side where Zee slipped him his chosen weapon, a handheld gun. 

However, letting go of the gun was a big mistake because suddenly Mark jumped up from behind and smashed Zee’s head with a large wooden block. 

“You know what? I do want to be free.” Tommy cleverly remarked back, the distraction from his agentsenabled him to free himself from the grips of the two. Penetrating his sharp knife deep into their favourite places, their stomachs. Beating on them until they were unconscious. 

Toy continued with Zee, pouncing on him to aim punches at his face until the agent’s nose was dripping with blood. Falling to the ground, him and Mark both violently stomped on his body and abdomen until they heard the bones painfully crack inside. 

“Where’s Park and Poppy?” Tommy breathed, hastily after he had finished with the other agents. 

“They were both injured after knocking out all the million agents that were near the entrance before.” Mark explained, moving away from the unconscious body of Zee. 

He couldn’t stay and chat with them for long, because Max was on the move again. Storming towards the frail, trapped Jimmy who was close to choking on his own blood, Max raised and clocked the gun. 

“No!!” Out came a terrifying scream, as Tommy leapt onto the real evil sociopath. 

Scrambling his pocket for another knife, Max took the opportunity to overtake him with a punch to his face. However, Tommy was back on his feet when Mark chucked another larger knife towards him. They battled, frantically dodging each other’s serious advances. 

Until finally, he succeeded. In creating a deep stab wound into his arm. Striking his abdomen twice, Max collapsed to the ground clutching onto the open wound. 

About to aim the last fatal strike, Max grinned wildly, gasping for his last breath at the same time. “A-all y-you had to do was kill him...why didn’t y-you do y-your job?” 

_ What was my job? To assassinate Jimmy Karn? The Jimmy Karn that he created, an evil monstrous, hideous sociopath.  _

_ I have a new job. To protect Jimmy Karn Kritsanaphan, the kindest most cutest puppy to ever exist. The love of my life.  _

“Because you’re the one that fucking deserves to die.” Tommy snarled, growling aggressively before he impaled the large sharp knife into his heart. 

  
  


_ He’s gone.  _

Feeling shaky, he stood up away from the corpse that began exploding with dark blood and pus. Mark and Toy carefully approached Tommy, who watched him slowly die. 

In realisation, Tommy paused and then quickly ran to see him in the chair. To see Jimmy laying there, engulfed in blood, still. 

“Jimmy?” Tommy gently mumbled, leaning on his knees on the floor. Touching the sides of his face desperately, Mark and Toy joined him to release the chains that tied Jimmy’s hands together. 

He was warm, but Tommy knew he had to find a pulse. “Jimmy?!” He cried out in horror, bursting into anguishing tears. 

_ A pulse, I-I need to find a pulse.. Jimmy please??  _

  
  


A huge sigh of relief from all of them, when Tommy managed to find a small pulse in his neck. He was breathing a little, but was unconscious. Suffering multiple bruises and deep wounds. 

A desperate Tommy tried his best to wake him up, by shaking him and calling his name softly and emotionally. Mark ran to find Park and Poppy whilst Toy helped clean some of the blood off of his face. 

_ 6:05pm  _

Fifteen minutes had passed, with Jimmy still refusing to wake up. All the agents surrounded him, with Tommy grabbing hold of his lukewarm hands sobbing lightly. 

_ It’s all my fault. It’s my fault you’re like this.. it’s my fault. Please wake up! Please..Jimmy.  _

_ Don’t leave me...  _

“Tommy, he needs special care.” Mark suddenly commented, gaining the attention of everyone else who were deep in thought. 

“What do you mean?” Poppy asked, he was in pain but not as much as his brother was suffering from. With a poorly wrapped bandage round his arm. 

“Well, I have a cousin who’s a doctor. He works at the local hospital, we can take Jimmy to him.” He suggested, with Toy nodding in agreement to that idea. 

“A hospital? Won’t they be suspicious of..what happened?” Tommy asked, standing up from the floor but still keeping hold of Jimmy’s hand. 

“Oh don’t worry about that, he’s not that type of doctor. He knows what I do so he won’t be suspicious.” 

It wasn’t the time to be uncertain for Tommy, so he decided to go with Mark’s idea and get him professionally treated at the hospital. As he held his hands, caressing them gently with his fingers, he knew that everything would be okay. 

That hopefully everything would be back to normal for him. 

“Okay, Mark contact your cousin and tell him what you can. Toy, Park and Poppy please clean the warehouse up and dispose of the bodies.” Tommy ordered, and when they all followed his instructions, he faced the sleeping Jimmy again. Feeling increasingly anxious, the tears started up again. This was how much he cared for him. 

_You will be with me, right? You won’t leave me? I’ll do anything for you. My Jimmy._


	15. Events of his deep sleep.

_ 7:35pm. Same day.  _

_ Bangkok central hospital.  _

Tommy never stopped thinking about him. Their moments when they were together. His past. All brought tears to his eyes, it was unhealthy thoughts. Including the even more saddening news, that he had drifted into a coma due to the internal bleeding in his brain. Caused by Max and his agents. 

_ That news..caused internal bleeding in my heart. As if someone pierced my heart with a sharp needle to pop it.  _

His agents, who renamed themselves to be the snivelling wreck’s friend, tried their best to remain positive. Which included making jokes and entertaining everyone once in a while. It was all fun until Tommy would raise his head from his depressed state and severely threaten them. Several times. To the point where nurses or even the doctor would be to afraid to approach him to give him updates, instead they would approach Mark. 

At this point, Tommy was unforgiving with Mark. As It became apparently clear to him that it was a lie. The whole “my cousin is a doctor” thing with Mark, because, as they arrived at the hospital before being transferred to the serious injuries ward, it was clear they weren’t related. 

The tall doctor wasn’t a complete stranger, but their “good friend” who did know Mark. But not as well as Tommy thought. He hated being lied to. 

It didn’t help the situation when the doctor who was treating Jimmy hadn’t made a very good first impression towards the psychopath. As with Tommy, his hands were tied back by Toy and Poppy to prevent him from retaliating back at Mark, who seemed quite guilty for lying to him but also afraid of his advances. The agents let go of Tommy, when he calmed himself down by reminding himself about Jimmy’s state at the time. 

The doctor let go of Mark who he began to cower behind in fear, and grunted in a professional manner holding out his hand. “I’m Joss Wayar.” 

“Not doctor?” Mark questioned back, in a confused manner. 

“Nah its too formal.” The man, accused of being in this profession, grinned back. 

“What the fuck kind of doctor doesnt want to be called a doctor?!” Tommy spat back, fixating his aggressiveness towards Mark who protested. 

“Tommy, he’s a great doctor trust me! He’s treated me and Toy before.” Mark politely smiled, patting the doctor on his back. 

“Which one’s Toy again?” Joss whispered to Mark, although it was loud enough for the distressed psychopath to hear. 

“What do you mean which one is Toy?!” He screeched, turning around to see Toy sitting up looking confused.

“No one remembers Toy anyway.” Mark remarked back, causing Toy to exclaim in offence. 

“I treat about 100 patients everyday. You’re in safe hands.” Joss reassured, bowing down to Tommy who still held his aggressive expression. “If you’re that distressed there’s the children’s play area in the next corridor.” 

“What?!” Tommy yelled back, attempting to aim punches at him but again was held back by Poppy and Toy. “You fucking calling me short?!” 

“Joss, I wouldn’t joke with him right now.” Mark warned to the anxious doctor who nodded in response. Hesitating, he explained to his friend that he had to conduct tests on the wounded patient before leaving. 

To sum up, his first impression was the reason why Tommy was left feeling even more frustrated and stressed than he was before. He would sit in the same seat outside the private room, where every so often he would peek in to see Jimmy all peaceful in the hospital wear and bed. 

It was devastating. Because he felt completely responsible. He should’ve been protecting him, he should’ve done his best. As that morning when it all took place he had the realisation that he was destined to be with him. But he failed to protect him from the evil sociopathic grasps of Max and his gang. 

Knowing that the man was deceased however wasn’t enough to satisfy Tommy. Because straight after he killed him, he looked towards Jimmy in pain. He didn’t feel any satisfaction because the one person he fought for wasn’t awake to know anything. 

Even though he felt uneasy about the doctor treating him, he would feel thankful that he at least had that support from the agents. From his friends. But he didn’t really know if they were at the friends stage yet. 

Later that night, the hospital was filled with accident and emergency patients dropping in an out. So there was barely any place for a Tommy to sit, except for inside the private ward. He hadn’t had the strength to enter the room since they arrived, as Joss, who Tommy refused to add the prefix to before saying his name, conducted silent tests with his personnel in the room and refused any entry. 

Mark explained to him that this was normal, as Tommy grew quite anxious about the amount of time they spent in the room. That night, it was only him left at the hospital as he had dismissed the agents to further protect the warehouse in case any simpleton stumbled upon it and reported it as a bloodbath. 

_ 11:20pm  _

Surreal. The atmosphere. How quiet it was in the room, apart from the occasional beeping from the heart rate monitor on the side. Tommy gently held his palms. Staring silently at Jimmy, breathing hoarsely due to the mask over his face, with his eyes held shut in a deep deep sleep. That was how Joss described the word Coma to him. Except this sleep lasted much longer than normal. 

This was terrifying. Watching Jimmy in this state was so terrifying for Tommy, no matter how much he squeezed his soft pale hand, he wouldn’t respond. Like the way he used to, holding his hand lovingly back. 

_ Jimmy, I miss you.  _

“Jimmy.” Tommy whispered, slowly forming the distressed tears in his eyes. He raised the hand he was clutching onto and gently kissed it, glancing upwards once again to observe him. 

There was no way Tommy would sleep that night. An insomniac like himself how could he possibly sleep? In case, he would wake up suddenly he decided to stay awake. With the help of coffee machine near to the children’s play area. 

Collecting his third cup of coffee, Tommy entered carefully back into the room to see thesame doctor who returned to check the drip. “Tommy, you’re staying the night here?” Joss asked, observing the fact he was holding coffee in his hand. 

“Of course I am.” Tommy hissed back obnoxiously, returning to his seat right near to Jimmy. 

“Not planning on sleeping, I figure.” 

“Why the fuck would I need sleep in this situation? H-he..the last thing I want is sleep.” Tommy sighed, taking a sip of the coffee and placing it on the bedside table. 

“You know there is a treatment for insomnia.” Joss commented approaching Tommy with his pen flashlight in his hand. The other moved his head away in alarm at how close he was. “Tommy, I’m just checking your eyes.” 

For those few minutes, he gave up on refusing this checkup and stayed still whilst Joss checked both eyes with the light twice. “Had a good look, doctor?” Tommy snidely replied back once he was finished, with a hint of sarcasm on the word doctor. 

“You have chronic insomnia, I can give you-“ 

“Drugs? No thanks. Just focus on treating my Jimmy.” Tommy huffed, growling lowly under his breath back at him. 

“If you say so, see you in the morning.” He awkwardly replied back, leaving the room straight after.

_ 11:50pm _

After the third cup finished, Tommy continued his emotional reflections whilst holding onto Jimmy. He remembered such wishes and stories that he would tell him. Such as the fact that he wishes to one day take Tommy to his favourite place in his hometown of Rayong, and to the beaches there. But also because he longed to see his family, and for Tommy to one day visit them too. Although, the other raised some apprehension towards this part, he agreed to one day visit his hometown. 

With all the beautiful descriptions of the beach told by Jimmy, he raised his expectations for when they would visit together. As a couple. Rayong sounded much more appealing to Tommy than Bangkok, especially right now. The corrupt city, even with a corrupt hospital. With much less law and order compared to other cities, and to think this fact used to be admired by the psychopath. Because it meant it was unlikely he would be caught in his work. But all he wanted right now was a peaceful life. Just himself and Jimmy.

_ Few days later, late afternoon.  _

Sitting back outside the private room, he awaited for the agents to return back to the hospital after one of them, Toy, sent him an urgent message with no context to it. The sentence was “we need to talk.” By we, he understood it wasn’t just Toy himself. So he sat there, the same distressed state he was always in. Jimmy, still in the same unconscious state. 

A few minutes after, they all arrived in a huddle with Mark and Toy first approaching Tommy gesturing at him to stand up and go to a more private place. They turned to Park and Poppy, who were behind them but, as Park became distracted by the vending machine near to them, so did Poppy when he noticed a protein snack in it. 

“You got any change on you?” Park muttered to Poppy, who shrugged as he emptied out his pockets to count the coins. 

“Just leave those imbeciles.” Mark grunted at Toy who gave up on trying to get their attention. 

“What is it? Just tell me quickly.” Tommy snapped, the overwhelming stressed emotions affected his mood and stamina. As he could hardly stand still, the agents standing in front of him glanced at him in concern due to his jitteriness. 

“It’s Zee.” Mark jumped straight to the problem, due to Toy’s hesitations. “He’s...not dead.”

For a minute, he couldn’t answer back. The psychopath gulped and shook his head in denial “what the fuck do you mean he’s not dead?! What about Max??” 

“Max is certainly dead.” Toy confirmed immediately “but Zee...he’s not because he ran away.” 

“He what?!” Tommy yelled, causing an echo throughout the corridor. Which urged Mark and Toy to push him further to a private corner. He tried his best to lower his voice, impatiently “how could he have run away? Huh?!” 

“We were disposing of the bodies whilst Park and Poppy were on lookout, we saw zee’s body on the ground and the next thing we know he’s gone.” Mark protested, quietly and suspiciously. 

Frustration; eating him alive. His sanity vanishing. His mind deteriorating. Suffering from inevitable pain. Problems were torturing him, hurting more than being physically beaten to death. Losing the will to function. Helpless. Hapless. Tommy clasped his head in agony, wheezing. All he wanted, the one thing he wanted more in the world more than anything else, was Jimmy. Because he’s nothing without him. 

“Are you okay?” Mark asked calmly, although Toy nudged him knowing that it wasn’t for he right time to ask such a question. 

“No...No. No I’m not fucking okay!” The psychopath screamed out, wheezing at the same time and clutching his chest in pain. “Why the fuck would I be okay? When the one person, the one person who makes me feel better about my crappy life is lying there bloody and beaten up in a fucking coma!!” Letting out all his anger onto the others who didn’t know how to respond. 

As they fell silent, Tommy, with uncontrollable sweat running down his forehead, continued in a harsh tone “now you’re telling me the one who did this to him, Zee, is still alive? Well not for long.” Saying this, he pushed the agents out the way. 

“No, Tommy! Don’t!” Mark shouted, trying to hold back Tommy from doing what he knew he was planning to do. 

“He doesn’t have to.” Poppy suddenly commented, moving away from Park and vending machine with a protein bar in his hand. 

“What do you mean?” Tommy questioned, releasing himself from Mark’s restraints and strolling up to the strong henchmen who had opened the wrapper of the bar. 

“I noticed he ran away and caught up with him.” He said casually as he munched on the bar. 

“Wait, when was this?” Park questioned, poking his head up from the machine carrying three chocolate bars and two protein bars. 

Sighing, his brother turned around and bitterly retorted “when you decided to fucking chase an ice cream van instead of guard the warehouse.” 

“You what?!” Tommy, Mark and Toy simultaneously screeched back causing Park to jump and release the bars onto the floor. 

“I-I was feeling hot...” He murmured back, avoiding Tommy’s sour expression whilst he crouched down to pick the bars up. 

“Yeah, so I caught up with him. And made him promise to never ever approach you or Jimmy ever again.” Poppy explained. 

“How though?? Did you-“ Mark attempted to ask but was interrupted. 

“No I didn’t. All I did was threaten him, and he went away.” 

In disbelief, Tommy turned back to the two agents standing behind then back to Poppy. “But...he did all this to Jimmy..you expect me to believe he won’t come back for him??” 

“Listen Tommy, Zee was just a pawn in this whole thing. He just did what Max instructed him to do, in the end Max would’ve finished the job not him. He doesn’t care about the access to the surveillance cameras, he just implanted it in his head that Jimmy was a target.” 

In Tommy’s position, you have to question you have to have those trust issues that set you apart from falling into a trap. But in all honesty in this situation, he just didn’t care. He wouldn’t have had that much mental capacity to go after Zee again after all he’s been through. All he could hope for was that the man would keep his promise. 

_ 5:20pm  _

“You guys hungry?” Park, seeming a little hyper than usual, asked pointing to the vending machine on the side. 

Things were a bit calmer, as Tommy was back to his deep contemplation state and ignoring the outside world. As the others rejecting Park’s offer, he shrugged and continued to open the sixth candy bar wrapper. Although, after a few minutes passed he still hadn’t seen to got it opened.

“You’ve got all that muscle and you can’t even open a candy bar?” Joss, the doctor, finally entered out of the private room along with the nurses that kept their routine of exiting in and out the room. Adding to Tommy’s anxiety. 

“Is Jimmy okay??” Tommy squeaked, bolting upright from his chair suddenly giving him a jump. 

“He’s showing some signs that he is recovering. But he’s still in the deep sleep.” 

“Call it a coma, I’m not a fucking child.” The psychopath aggressively hissed back. For the uncountable time that day, causing Mark opposite him to sigh and face palm. 

“You’ve been moody for days, you need some cheering up.” Joss beamed ridiculously at him, taking a deck of playing cards out of his doctors coat. As if it was normal to be carrying it around. “How about some magic?” 

“Awesome!” Park exclaimed excitedly, but cowered back once Tommy aimed his agitated glares towards him. 

“I’m not just a doctor-“ 

“You’re not a fucking doctor!” Tommy snapped back, standing up to now confront him. 

Slightly offended, Joss took a step back back from and continued being cheerful “I’m also an entertainer.” 

He removed the cards from the packaging and began shuffling them skilfully in his hands. In contrast to Tommy’s annoyance towards this, the other agents were easily impressed by his skills. 

“That’s it, I can’t take this.” Tommy viciously pushed the doctor to the side, removing his knife from his back pocket to threaten with “you want a magic trick? I bet you I can make this knife fucking disappear up inside of you!” He growled, edging the knife closer to Joss who began to whimper. 

“Tommy, enough of this!” Toy unexpectedly raised his voice, to make it aware to him that they were in a hospital. 

The psychopath let out a breath and stepped back away, putting the knife back in his pocket. “Now you know he really did kill Max..” Joss muttered quietly to himself, tossing the playing cards pack to Park to keep himself occupied before leaving to respond to his pager. 

“You could get done for assault, you have to be careful Tommy!” Poppy whispered back, with the others nodding their heads in agreement. 

Timidly with immense frustration, he sat back in the same seat about to return back to his same position. With his hands on his head, distressed. For a while, the tension was back to say nothing. But he chose to end this tension. “Did you...did you know Jimmy has always wanted to visit his hometown?” He quietly mentioned, glancing up towards Mark. 

Mark nodded sympathetically back “yes, he’s told us many times he misses his family. The last time he saw them he was in a right state..” 

“State? What do you mean?” 

“He..hasn’t told you yet?” 

The two men stared at each other both with hesitation to continue speaking. Was Mark about to tell him a secret about Jimmy? Something he hasn’t yet been informed about from him? Tommy grew exceedingly anxious waiting for the other to respond. 

“I don’t know how he would feel about me telling you this, but since he hasn’t told you yet I thought I might.” Mark began, he turned to glance at the other agents occupied with their own things. For instance, Toy was resting his eyes whilst the henchmen brothers were busy fooling about with the pack of playing cards they were given. 

Acknowledging that they weren’t listening, Tommy leaned closer to Mark for better hearing. As the agent continued “before he met you, Jimmy used to be severely depressed. It all began when he failed his high school examinations whereas me and Toy never even turned up for them. He didn’t want his family to know that he was a failure so he told them he was going to live in Bangkok and work there. When really at that time he had no job.” 

Listening intently, Tommy’s expression changed when he found that out. 

_ Severely depressed? Jimmy? _

And by that look of disbelief, Mark knew what he was thinking “believe me, Tommy. Me, Toy and sometimes Nat would have to watch him suffer, trying our best to cheer him up. When he left his hometown, he came to us. The fact that he also suffered from antisocial behaviour caused him to act highly aggressive towards people. He and us would get involved in gangs, that’s when we formed the agency. As his depression grew deeper, he succumbed to taking drug treatments and that’s how we came across to selling drugs to heroin infested gangs. Killing, taking obsessive amounts of drugs, feeling worthless and killing again. That was his cycle. And we couldn’t do anything. He hated it. Jimmy despised killing people because it would never satisfy him. He felt that the cycle would never end.”

_ It’s scary, how familiar this sounds to me... _

It wasn’t really what Tommy wanted to hear, if anything it made him even more upset with the thought of where he was right now. In that state. He wasn’t upset because Jimmy hadn’t had the chance to tell him about this, because deep down he knew how hard it would be to tell someone something personal like that. That’s what he felt with his therapist, uncomfortable but then Tommy had no choice. 

“Do you know what it’s like to first see someone so depressed so unbelievably sad, knowing that they are suffering from that much pain inside that you think nothing will ever help them? However, miraculously change to the bright, smiling cheerful face you see now? I saw that change in Jimmy. It was all because of you.” Mark smiled warmly back, as Tommy sat back. 

Stunned. Just stunned by what he was hearing. 

_ Me? Me, a messed up, devastated, insane psychopath?  _

It was then Tommy realised him and Jimmy were much more alike than he had indeed thought before. He had always assumed he had always had that bright positivity in him. But that’s just it. He never knew Jimmy had that dark side to him, the suicidal depressive side. The same side he himself suffered with for many years. 

_ Flashback _

_ 1am, after the day of their first encounter.  _

Fleeing the scene, leaving a pool of blood with droplets exceeding up to the warehouse, Jimmy hopped inside the entrance with, to the agents astonishment, a massive grin on his face. An emotion on his face that the others hadn’t seen in a very long time. He hopped toward the weapons table where Mark and Toy paused what they were doing to attend to the blood stains from his mouth. 

“Mark, guess what!” His eyes were lit up in a strange but exciting way. Compared to the redness they would generally see after he had taken the pills. 

“What?” Mark asked, concerned about his behaviour even more. 

“I found him.” Jimmy giggled, mumbling some words incoherent for the others to hear. “I found him...” 

“What? Who?” Toy questioned, confused. 

“The one. He was there! At that gang meeting!” Beaming, despite the agents giving confused looks towards each other. Nevertheless, he continued dreamily “he showed up out of nowhere like a silent assassin, beating up all the gang members that tried attacking me. I couldn’t see his face properly but his eyes...they were beautiful.” 

“Uhh...Jimmy?” Mark prodded after he began to daydream happily. “Are you sure it’s not hallucinations?” 

“What?” Jimmy snapped out of his daydream about the man and frowned “I’m not affected by the side effects of drugs anymore. But no! He’s not an illusion he’s real!” 

They both stared at him in concern, as their boss was in fact too excited to notice them. After seeing that man, that athletic, skilful man with his knife, he suddenly felt different. He felt charged. He felt something he had truly never felt before. He was happy. 

“Nat!” Jimmy called out, and skipped over to the computer desk where the youngest of them all peeked his head over the screens. “I need a favour, I need you to access the security cameras of that street at about 11:30pm.” 

“Y-you’re asking me for a favour?” Nat asked, for the week he was there he had been ignored by the boss. Feeling quite intimidated and frightened because of the mental breakdowns he would have. “Okay.” 

Patiently, he observed Nat hacking into the network software of the security cameras near a shop on the same street the gang assault took place. Accessing the footage of the exact time he wanted, Jimmy now peered his head closer to the screen. He eyes searching for the masked man. 

“Stop!” Jimmy announced, as the video footage was immediately paused at the bit when the masked man approaches himself. Zooming in, he tried to see if he could identify him with the scanners installed in the software. But he couldn’t. 

“Uhh, boss? It looks like that man your after was really trying to kill you.” Nat commented after he had rewatched the same part several times prior to his instructions. 

Indeed, at the same time, Jimmy has realised this as well with no affect on his urgency to find him again. “So?” 

Hearing Nat saying this, the other two agents rushed to see the footage for themselves and then agreed with the tech agent. “He’s right. Looks like he was there for you instead and you know who would do something like this to you, right?” Mark questioned, sternly folding his arms. 

“Yeah, he’s a Max agent I guess. This means he will come back for me right??” Jimmy squeaked unexpectedly, grinning even wider than before. 

“Jimmy, are you deaf? Or blind? The guy clearly wants to kill you!” Toy hissed back. 

“So? You weren’t there! When we saw each other for the first time, I felt something. As I gazed into his eyes, I saw something. A-and I know he felt something too. I just need to get closer to him...” Jimmy sighed, he began to think of a plan. 

“Are you crazy? Seriously?” Mark exclaimed in exasperation, rubbing his forehead. 

“No I’m not. I know a way to stop him from killing me. But I need your help.” 

At first, Toy and Mark refused. They tried their best to convince him that it was a bad idea, chasing after a psychopathic assassin. However, they saw how much Jimmy was affect by this. For the first time, he was genuinely excited about something. They thought they would never see him like this ever again. So maybe, they thought, it is worth a shot. 

And after explaining the plan, the three decided to go ahead with it. The next day, placing Toy at one end of the block all dressed in black with his hood up and his mask on just like a gangster. And with Mark on the other wearing exactly the same. None of them expected what they saw. 

None of them expected that lone, sarcastic, messed up psychopathic agent, known as Tommy,to have mercy on him and take him back to his house. No one expected Jimmy to stay there for long and bond with him. To the point where he would trust him and bring him to the warehouse. No one expected them to have that private moment in the warehouse, to finally open up about their true feelings. 

Finally, no one expected them both to fall in love with each other. Not even themselves. 

“You see how happy you made Jimmy that night? He really does care about you a lot. And I know we were apprehensive at first but you show you care so much for him. I’m grateful he met you.” Mark beamed, softly. 

The whole story about him, brought unstoppable tears to Tommy’s eyes. He wiped them with his hands but he ended up sobbing more. Although, he remembered the other agents were still there, so he calmed himself down. And managed to give a warm smile back “I really do care about him. So much.” 

_ Jimmy, you’re the one. We’re meant for each other.  _

_ A week later.  _

_ Same hospital, same private room.  _

He researched how long a coma would usually last for, the answer was about two weeks. Tommy had noticed a change in Jimmy’s behaviour, noticing his breathing was becoming less laboured than it used to be. Joss kept reminding him to focus on his own health as well, which Tommy was keen to pass on. All he wanted was for Jimmy to wake up. He wanted it so badly. 

The agents returned back from the town centre with gifts for Jimmy and snacks. The room was now full of get well soon cards from them and teddy bears. That Tommy chose. That afternoon, Mark entered the private room suddenly to call for the psychopath. Who observed the patient quietly, holding his hand like usual. 

Tommy exited the private room to see Mark standing next to Toy holding something behind his back. “What is it?” Tommy muttered, over the few days he was incredibly feeling exhausted. But refused to take sleeping pills. 

“We all bought you both something. Me, Toy, Park and Poppy. We hope you like it.” Mark began smiling warmly. 

Toy removed his hands from his back, revealing the gift he was holding. Two train tickets. Tommy took them carefully from his hand and read it in his mind. They were subway tickets to Rayong, Jimmy’s hometown. 

_ They..did this?  _

“You and Jimmy deserve a break after all of this. I know he would really want to see his family.” Toy beamed, parting Tommy on the back. He was in awe reading the subway train tickets over and over. 

“I can’t believe you would do this...” Tommy gasped, overwhelmed with immense shock and gratitude. He felt truly emotional, thats when he knew they were at that stage. The friends stage.

“We care about our friends, right?” Mark added, causing Tommy to wipe the overwhelming tears from his eyes. 

“Thank you so much, friends.” He smiled widely, the first time he smiled since the whole incident. Gently, holding the tickets, he gave Mark and Toy a surprise. A loving hug. They both held him tightly, also feeling emotional. 

“Wait! I want to join!” Park squealed, skipping to join the group hug along with Poppy. 

There it was. A long lasting group hug. It would’ve been perfect if Jimmy had joined in. 

_ 9pm _

After hours of convincing, Joss finally left the private room when Tommy agreed to take the two sleeping pills he had left on the table next to the water. He was apprehensive indeed. But he wanted to feel free from exhaustion weighing him down, so he gave in. He sighed, gazing at Jimmy peacefully resting. Grazing his cheek softly before shoving the pills down his throat. 

For a while, there weren’t any effects on him. Until he suddenly felt drowsy and decided to rest his head near Jimmy’s hand on the bed. 

_ 11pm  _

A slight touch. A tiny frail touch on his finger. And he awoke. Tommy raised his head up from the snooze when he felt a soft touch on his finger. His heart pounding ever so much as he stared at Jimmy. Still breathing. 

_ C-could it be? No..it could...  _

His eyes were not playing tricks on him. Because he saw it again. Jimmy’s finger slowly lifted up, causing Tommy to gasp and jump up. Watching closely, he saw the rest of his fingers try to move. 

At first he was afraid it was a side effect of the sleeping pill. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t. As Jimmy’s right hand began to move, so did his head. 

He was waking up. 

H-he’s waking up..he’s waking up!! 

“Jimmy?” Tommy called quietly, in response he saw Jimmy’s head move towards his side. Then and there, he carefully opened his eyes. Gasping in amazement, Tommy sat back downand took Jimmy’s hand. “Jimmy?” 

It was clear he was in a daze, with his vision still slightly blurry. But he responded to the hand holding, clutching to it tightly. Tommy was too in shock to speak, he just observed. 

“P-PTommy?” Jimmy mumbled, with little slur. He faced him, his eyes half open. Tommy, overwhelmed that he was suddenly awake, squeezed his hand. 

“It’s me, Jimmy. It’s me.” He emotionally repeated, shaking as he held his hand tightly. 

“P’Tommy, you’re here.” He continued mumbling, as it was hard to speak wit the oxygen mask on. 

_ My Jimmy, you’re awake! You don’t know how happy I am! I’m so happy.  _

Gazing at him with adoration, Tommy edged closer to his forehead and felt it with his hand. He then leaned his face closer, placing a loving kiss on it. 

Sobbing with happiness, he spoke gently “Jimmy, I’ve missed you so much. I love you.” He raised his frail hand gently and kissed it. 

“I-I love you..my PTommy.” Jimmy whispered back, smiling brightly. Causing to Tommy to smile back, as if his smile was contagious.

_Don’t worry. After we get out of here, we will run away together. Just the two of us._


	16. To escape from Bangkok

_ 10am, Hospital private room.  _

“You think Jimmy knows we’re all here watching them both?“ Mark whispered, to Toy who was standing next to him holding one of the gifts they bought for him yesterday. 

That morning the agents came back from securing the warehouse to visit Jimmy in a hurry, with the urgent message they got from Tommy that same day explaining that he was awake. But ten minutes after they arrived inside the private room they ended feeling like they were intruding on the couple’s private moment. 

“‘Cause you know we could just slip out of here.” Mark continued to Toy who sighed in response. All of them (Park, Poppy, Toy and Mark) stood patiently in a line opposite the bed where Jimmy was busy staring silently in adoration back to Tommy, who did the same holding his hand. 

Since it was a nothing needed to be said kind of silence, Mark indeed broke it with his selfish whispers causing Tommy to snap out of his lovable mood and hiss “just leave us then!”

“You’ve been with him all night!” Toy complained, frowning back at Tommy. 

“All night??” Park questioned, he was becoming addicted to the protein bars in the vending machine in the corridor that all he was doing whilst they were waiting was opening another bar. 

“Would you give those bars a rest?” Poppy scolded, attempting to snatch it out his brothers hands. 

“No!” 

“Why not?” The younger brother argues back

“Because you will eat it instead!” Park finally opened the bar and ate it quickly before Poppy could stop him, frowning in response to this. Another fact, Poppy was also a bit addicted to the protein bars as all day they would eat them and then in the night back at the warehouse they would exercise non stop. 

“Protein bars?” Jimmy reluctantly questioned back, turning away from Tommy to eventually face the eager agents desperate for attention. 

“Yeah, just ignore those imbeciles.” Tommy sighed, glancing to the henchmen brothers still fighting over those snacks. 

“Please I’ve already been doing that for 2 weeks.” Jimmy chuckled, winking back at the other who giggled at his joke. 

“Hello?!” Toy screeched out, the gift he held in his hand was a small teddy bear in which he frustratedly threw at Jimmy’s bed to get his attention for once. 

“Toy! Don’t throw your toy, pick it up!” Mark instructed, as Toy sulkily did as he was told, he approached the right side of the bed and patted the other in bed. “You feeling okay?” 

“Not bad. I missed you guys and your craziness.” Jimmy smiled back at him, causing not only Mark but also Tommy to smile back. Blushing, because he just incredibly adored him smiling. 

Thinking about what Mark had told him about the past, made his love for Jimmy blossom even more. Jimmy was in the same place as himself before but when he was with Tommy he’s completely different, and to Tommy, this was a pure example of the fact that there is some sort happiness out there for anyone. He was the one person who made him feel better about his life, the one person who actually made him want to keep living a life. 

So Tommy would sit there and dreamily smile at him, because he could. 

“We missed you too, especially Tommy.” Mark added smiling to Tommy who became a little bashful and sat back in his chair along with Jimmy gracefully beaming at him too. 

“You guys protected the warehouse right?” Jimmy sat up carefully, his beam reducing to a more concerned look towards the agents. 

Tommy also took on this expression with hints of menace especially towards Park and Poppy who were the main ones involved in guarding the warehouse. “The warehouse is fine, all the records and files against Max were hidden by Nat.” Toy reassured, joining Mark after handing the teddy bear to Jimmy. 

The other took hold of it and smiled at it, then towards Tommy “this bear reminds me of you.” He giggled, caressing the bear’s fur before he put it to his side. 

_ He always knows how to make me all shy... he has my heart.  _

He didn’t need to say anything to express his immense happiness he was feeling because of Jimmy. Because he was awake, it gave him the strength to want to protect him further. Upon hearing the name, however, his smile faded and he turned to Toy and Mark “Wait, where is Nat?” 

Indeed, Jimmy realised this too well and glanced to the agents for some enlightenment. To which Mark pulled out his phone and opened the message app on it. “Oh yeah, Nat texted me an hour ago when I told him you were awake. He couldn’t visit today because of school.” 

At first, he was convinced, but after pondering for so long it didn’t add up to him. “But today is a Saturday.” Tommy mentioned, causing everyone, even the brothers who had grown tired of fighting and recently joined to listen, to anxiously glance at one another.It was true. Jimmy woke up precisely late night. Friday night.

“Maybe he means he’s busy with school work you know.” Mark shrugged, as Toy and the other leaned over his shoulder to read the text message. 

“Does he say that??” Jimmy questioned anxiously. His anxiety was recognised by Tommy who then comforted him by gently holding his hand close to himself. 

“Well...no.” Poppy said in the most blatant way possible. 

“What does this mean then?” Park nervously approached the psychopath who was busy contemplating and doubting. 

“That Nat is obviously a liar and he’s up to something.” 

“Please, he’s the youngest out of us what could he possibly do?” Mark sniggered, they all paid their attention to the one person who hadn’t yet spoken up. 

The psychopath stood up from the chair, giving them all harsh glares before strolling towards them. But just as he was about to give his answer, the private room door was opened causing himself to move out the way. Allowing Jimmy’s doctor through. 

“We having a party in here?” Joss grinned, aiming this purposely to Tommy in a mocking way. 

“Of course. As you can see Jimmy’s awake.” Tommy gritted, pointing to the patient in bed where Joss made his way to carrying a needle. 

He grabbed the drip by his bed and before inserting the needle, moved the patients head to check the bandage round it. “Hello Jimmy, I’m doctor Joss-“ 

“Oh, so now you’re a fucking doctor?” Tommy snarled back, aggressively observing him. 

“To him, yes I am-“ The doctor was once again interrupted, pausing what he was about to insert into the drip. 

“To me you’re fucking annoying.” 

“Listen, will you stop arguing with me in front of your boyfriend and let me do my job!” Joss yelled, as the other became silent, he continued to pay his attention to the patient in bed. 

Raising up the needle he was holding to show, “Jimmy, this is just painkillers I’m going to insert into your drip. It should help you with the head bruises and injuries you suffered.” When the other nodded to confirm, Joss inserted the needle into the drip and released the liquidised painkillers into it. 

“Painkillers? Is that the best you can do?” Tommy scowled, frowning back at him as he continued to backed away from his patient. 

“They’re much stronger than the usual painkillers. You should take some since you are a pain yourself.” Joss grinned wildly back, before exiting the private room. 

The agents allowed themselves to breathe freely again. Unexpectedly, Park began sniggering to himself as he commented “you both love flirting with each other like that.” 

Immediately after saying this, he raised his arms up and backed away from the psychopath who attempted to lash out at him in uncontrollable rage. 

“P’Tommy, he was just joking!” Jimmy shouted out, trying his best to sit up properly to grab his attention. 

Acknowledging his attempts, the other aimed dirty looks towards Park before facing the rest of the agents again “Nat may be the youngest, but that means he’s most likely to under influence of another.” 

“So, what? You think he’s dodgy?” Mark commented, in disbelief shaking his head “he’s our tech agent he wouldn’t betray us.” 

“He’s the one who hid the footage from the surveillance cameras on the computer, he can access it all. Not only that, he knows the warehouse inside out he would know where you keep the money you get given from gangs.” Tommy sighed, folding his arms. As Mark began to contemplate this information, attention was now on Toy. “What do you think?” 

“I think you’re crazy for doubting Nat. He could be innocent!” Toy screeched. 

It was true, he was crazy. The psychopath knew this from the beginning. He always had doubts about others, the only one that was proved wrong were his doubts about Jimmy. They were coincidentally all for Max in the end. Tommy wished that in that moment he was wrong, because he had had enough of untrustworthy people. 

“But he could be guilty. Why would he lie to us about not coming here, don’t you think it’s suspicious he hasn’t visited me since this happened to me?” Jimmy suddenly remarked, taking hold of the remote controls for the bed which allowed him to move the back upwards so he could sit up properly. “You guys need to go to the warehouse to make sure everything is the same as it was before.” He ordered. 

He glanced towards Tommy who gave him a warm smile back, as gratitude for supporting him. “I’ll stay here with Jimmy. Call me if anything happens.” 

The reluctant agent, Mark sighed in exhaustion, too tired to argue back. They followed him out of the private room and out of the hospital. “Great, we gotta go back to the place we’ve all been in all night. Every night in fact.” Park whined, as they all trudged towards the warehouse. 

“I know it’s annoying. But the warehouse is like Jimmy’s home, and ours too. We must protect it.” Mark replied back. 

_ 12:07pm  _

Following Jimmy’s request for some food, Tommy strolled back from the hospital canteen carrying the bag of food he ordered. Before he entered the private room however, he removed the tub from the bag and chucked the bag in the bin. 

“That smells so yummy!” Jimmy beamed, when he entered cheerily with the tub of food. 

“They had stir fried chicken with rice!” He grinned, passing the tub to the patient who opened it excitedly and began eating with the fork in it. 

“You want some too?” Jimmy asked, he brightly smiled with his cheeks all full.

_ He’s so cute. I can’t believe he’s this cute..  _

The other nodded back giggling, he opened his mouth wide as Jimmy leaned his hand forward to feed him. It was the first time Tommy had been fed by anyone, and he enjoyed it too much. So much so, that he offered to feed him back. Because Jimmy was the epitome of his happiness, he adored him so much. Although deep down he still felt a tiny spec of guilt, guilt not worth mentioning, for the whole incident. 

Observing Jimmy eating the last few pieces of the chicken, he began to plan in his mind away to rectify his mistake. And when he had finished, tucking the tub into the rubbish bin on the side, Tommy was about to sit back in the uncomfortable seat he had sat on the entire time. But he noticed Jimmy ushering him to the right side of the bed, patting on the mattress as evidence that there was space for him. 

“You sure Joss won’t burst into this room and tell us off?” Tommy questioned, with a mocking at his name. Frowning for a moment at the thought of that scenario happening. 

“He already came here to check my wounds when you were out getting the food, don’t worry.” Jimmy responded, patting the mattress and shifting further to the left so Tommy could squeeze in.

The hospital bed was more narrow than it looked, therefore, when Tommy climbed on it he ended up actually facing Jimmy a lot closer despite the shuffles away. Becoming crimson red with bashfulness when their noses gently touched each other’s. 

“So...” Tommy began, although he was caught up in Jimmy’s wide engaging eyes and so lost his train of thought for a bit. 

“Anything new happened when I was..passed out?” Jimmy casually asked. 

_ New? What should I tell him? Fuck! I forgot about that...  _

“Umm..well..” Tommy stuttered, becoming flustered. What he really wanted to discuss, he didn’t know if he was able to. About Jimmy’s past. “Mark told me something, that is new to me...” 

“Oh, what is it?” 

“A-about...your past.” Feeling anxious and sweaty, he tried to avoid his eye contact. Jimmy’s smile faded a bit, but not to the point where he was too intimidating. 

“Mark...he told you about my depression?” Jimmy let out a sigh, he unexpectedly lifted his hand up to caress Tommy’s cheek “I’m sorry, for not telling you about this before.” 

“Don’t be sorry, I understand. It took me a long time to open to others, I still struggle now and I struggled in the past with my therapist.” Tommy reassured, as they both smiled back at rest other again. 

“It was a horrible time for me, I try not to think about it right now. Because I have you, you make me feel happy.” And soon, the patient wrapped his arms around him lovingly and rested his head next to his. 

A moment of peace and tranquillity was needed. But Tommy couldn’t help but wonder more about his past, he yearned to know more only if Jimmy was comfortable with explaining more. At that present time it was as if he read his mind though, because he faced back to Tommy and continued “I guess Mark only told you vague details of my depressive episode. The actuality involves the real reason why Max so desperately despised me.” 

Intrigued, he smiled back and stroked his arm “you can tell me about it, but only if you feel comfortable with me..” 

Jimmy giggled back, with a immediate nod to which the other prepared himself to remain silent and thoughtful about his story. “I used to have chaotic, manic episodes. Which involved myself terrorising the public, stealing from shops, and becoming aggressive and violent. These episodes would last the whole day until I would just have enough of it and go back to my crappy apartment feeling worthless and sad. Bipolar depression, I didn’t know of this term until Mark researched about it. My friends used to join me on the wild sprees, until one specific day when they abruptly ended. When we were approached by a strange man who called himself Max.” 

_He was also approached by the strange man, Max..._

Listening intently, he gazed up at his glowing eyes with excitement. Just when he thought Jimmy couldn’t be more intriguing, the true events of his past disturbed his thoughts. “You’re not surprised that he approached me? Long story short, me and my friends became to rebellious and too much for him to handle. We stole all the gang money from and records of everything he did and ran away. We kept escaping and running until we found an abandoned warehouse. There we formed my contract agency, and there my friends became my agents. One of the other reasons why Max hated us was because we got hold of the one thing he had been longing for as a part of his agency, a technical agent. We found Nat, and he grew incredibly envious. Then on we became rivals.” 

_Max really wanted a technical agent like Nat, for the same reason they use him right now. But wait..._

There was a lot for both of them to figure out, but with what Jimmy had just told him, Tommy realised something. Something that could damage them. “If Max has always been after a tech agent he would’ve interviewed every agent to see if they had that abilities. He didn’t with me because he just wanted me to kill you but after me.. he got the new agent, Zee.” 

“Zee?” Jimmy questioned. 

“He’s...the one who did this to you, gave you all those injuries and put you in a coma.” Tommy answered back, his facial expressions showed the frustration he felt thinking about this. Causing the other to stroke his head to calm his intense breathing down. 

_I just...I just can’t take it here anymore.._

His breathing resulted in him slowly breaking down into tiny sobs to which Jimmy brought him closer to hug lovingly. Gazing tearfully upwards he wiped his eyes and announced “Jimmy, its not safe for you here anymore. It’s just not. It’s not safe for us.” 

“Hey, its okay.” Jimmy comforted, stroking his head until the psychopath calmed down naturally. Because only he could be the one to calm him down. 

As his sobbing passed, he began to cheer up considerably after Jimmy continued to rock him in his arms like he was trying to calm a fussed baby. Tommy indeed enjoyed it. The plan he was forming before appeared in his mind again, and he decided then and there to discuss it with him “Oh, the agents they brought us a gift.” He smiled, sitting up to reach into his jeans pocket. He pulled out the subway tickets and passed them to Jimmy. 

“Tickets to Rayong?? M-My hometown??” He gasped, examining the folded tickets in his hand. Overwhelmed, he kept them close to his chest and beamed back “I can’t believe they would do this!” 

“I know right? They’re the kindest friends.” Tommy smiled back, although he let out a sigh which brought him back to his anxious state. “Jimmy, I’ve been thinking. Bangkok isn’t a safe place for us anymore. I want to get away from life here.” 

“Don’t worry P’Tommy we’ll go to Rayong after I’m better!” 

“I know...but I don’t mean that.” Tommy sighed, nervously turning to the other who’s smile was brushed away. “I-I mean..would you want to maybe move to somewhere else. Maybe Rayong?” 

Jimmy began to ponder for a moment, with seriousness. “Are you sure?” with Tommy’s confirmation nod his expression transformed back to happiness. “Let’s do it!” 

“Really?!” Tommy exclaimed in uncontrollable glee, he ecstatically squeezed the other back and rested his head on his shoulder “we’re really going to do this? We’re going to move out my house?” 

Jimmy broke the hug to gaze into his eyes and nod brightly back “yes we’re going to do this! I always thought about us having a normal life, the two of us.” 

“Me too...” Tommy giggled back, receiving another cuddle from him. 

Unfortunately broken up by Tommy’s vibrating phone in his jeans pocket. He moved away from him to check who was ringing him, immediately picking up the call when he saw it was Mark. “What’s up?” 

Receiving Mark’s desperate pleads, the psychopath nodded and ended the call. Turning back to Jimmy feeling anxious again “they need me at the warehouse. I don’t want to leave you alone though..”

“It’s okay I’ll be fine! I’ll probably rest I’ve been awake all night.” He grinned back, giving Tommy another hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before he left the private room. 

_If I have to kill anyone here, it will be my last._

_Distant tolls from bells of the city clock as it struck 2pm_

_ The warehouse  _

Prepared, equipped with his mask and weapon, he casually strutted into entrance of the warehouse where out came two enemy bodyguards to which the psychopath reacted quickly. Kicking the others and slashing them with the sharp blades, causing them to fall to the ground. 

Continuing strutting to the side brick wall where all the agents were huddled, he walked through the arched door to see what used to be the desk with the computer on it all smashed to pieces.After seeing this he paused, at a sensible distance from the agents enough for him to listen into the situation. He listened in, undoubtedly hearing Mark’s loud voice. 

“How dare you do this to us!” Mark yelled, to the student in the middle of the circle. 

The youngest of them all, the tech agent let out a sigh, staring to the ground. He was next to sacks filled with cash, the cash that Jimmy and everyone stored away from gangsters. Money they stole from Max a while back. 

“You’re working for him aren’t you? That’s why you smashed the computer, destroying the files. All the fucking files we had against him??” Mark snapped, taking in a deep breath and stepping away from sulky student after Toy insisted he calmed down. 

They, including Tommy, have never seen or heard Mark this frustrated. It caused them to feel the same way, but Toy decided to take a calmer approach with Nat “listen, you can tell us everything. Aren’t we your friends? What are you doing?” 

“Yes, what the fuck are you doing with our money?? Do you know how badly injured your boss is in the hospital and you haven’t fucking visited him, not once!!” Mark yelled aggressively in his face, causing Toy to drag him back again. 

“Mark, stop it!” Toy scolded, smacking his arm crossly. 

The other sulked and folded his arms, facing him “stop what? He’s betrayed us!” 

In a distance, Tommy felt he had heard enough and continued to pace towards the agents. In his deep commanding voice he breathed “leave him alone, he’s just a kid.” The agents responded by turning around and opening the circle up so Tommy could himself confront Nat. He crouched down in front of him sighing heavily, as Nat stared back at him nervously. “Explain to us everything.” 

“U-umm..well..” Nat stuttered, feeling uncomfortable due to everyone’s anticipation and Mark’s disappointing glare at him. 

Tommy noticed this and turned back to Mark “you, knock it off!” After the other faced away from Nat, he continued to speak calmly to him “continue.” 

“Well...I did this for the money, I-I was told that if I destroyed the files against Max I could have all the money. I need this money, I-I’m starting an exclusive college soon I need to pay fees to get in!” Nat cried out, causing groans from everyone around them. After Tommy shushed them all, he allowed him to continue “I only destroyed the files on the computer! I haven’t touched the hard copies yet, he said he wants to destroy those himself.” 

“Who said this?” Tommy asked impatiently. He suddenly stood up properly from his crouching due to a tingling sensation. A feeling that he should be prepared in case of the unexpected. 

“I-I dont know his name, he just told me he worked for Max.” Nat squeaked, taking hold of a sack of cash as he shuffled backwards. 

Suspiciously, Tommy glared back at him and then back to the other agents. Who now became occupied with fighting other enemy bodyguards. He crept backwards, clutching onto the knife. 

“Watch your back.” A booming deep voice caused the psychopath to switch round. However, there was no one there. Until he felt footsteps tracing closer to him, from behind. 

“Zee.” Tommy growled, turning back to the front just in time to dodge Zee’s near punches. He counterattacks by pushing him backwards and powerfully kicking his chest, causing him crash onto a wall. “You said you wouldn’t come near me or Jimmy ever again.” He snarled, strolling towards him. 

“I didn’t go near you though, I went to Nat. Since you fuckers are too self involved to even think about him-“ Zee’s speech was interrupted by Tommy aiming a strike to his arm in response. 

“You fucking put my Jimmy in hospital!” Tommy screamed back, attempting to stab the enemy agent painfully in the chest but he dodged and managed to escape from the wall clutching onto his open cut on his arm.

“And you killed Max! He’s dead, and now I’m going to finish what he wanted in the first place. Destroying those hard copy files. Then killing you.” Zee smirked, revealing his gun attached to his belt to the psychopath who growled aggressively back. He marched over to Nat, who was shaking in fear in the corner observing all the violence. Snatching the sacks from him, he chucked them to the side then raised his gun at Nat. “Give me the hard copies.” 

“No!” Tommy shouted out, causing Zee to instead point the gun at him as he ran to him. “No, Nat don’t do it!” 

Unfortunately, the tech agent stepped to one side as the other weren’t looking. He tried to creep up to the sacks of cash, but was caught by both of them. As Zee pointed the gun back to him and began to march, Tommy lept onto his wide shoulders and stabbed him multiple times. Resulting in the enemy to collapse right in front of him and Nat, bleeding uncontrollably onto the ground. 

_ I should’ve killed Zee first. Then Max.  _

Observing the deceased body, he pulled the knife out of him back with blood dripping from it. Nat, breathing heavily in an anxious state, stared back up to Tommy. Here he had the flashbacks of seeing Jimmy in a similar state to him, chaotic and laughing his head off at the person he had just killed. It frightened him, but he then remembered that his boss was no longer like this. Remembering his situation right now, Nat picked up a sack of money and handed it to Tommy. “For you and Jimmy. I-I’m sorry. Please take care of him, please?” He insisted, pushing the sack near to him. 

As Tommy attempted to protest to this, he was interrupted again by Nat’s feeble voice “I’m sorry, tell Jimmy I’m sorry. I hope he gets better soon. You two deserve to have a happy life. Goodbye.” And in a flash, he rushed out the warehouse with the other sack of money. 

In bewilderment, he stared at the sack and let out a disappointed sigh. He turned round to see the agents stumbling around after beating the bodyguards up out of breath and decided to approach them with the money. “Here.” Tommy pushes the sack towards them. 

“Wait, where’s Nat??” Poppy questioned, staring at the sack, receiving the other agents approvals at that question. 

“He’s gone. Never mind about him. Here, you wanted this.” Tommy commented, nudging the sack towards Mark who was a lot calmer than his mood before. 

He let out a sigh before replying back “I wasn’t angry because he stole our money, it was because he betrayed us. I just..I trust you guys and I trusted him. You keep it.” He glanced towards Toy who agreed with what he was saying. 

_ That money..it would help me and Jimmy find permanent residence in Rayong. And other things.. _

“Okay. I understand how you feel though. I find it hard to trust people.” Tommy gave a comforting smile back, picking up the sack again. 

“You trust us, right?” Park asked timidly. 

“Yes. In fact, I trust you guys so much that I will ask you all to take this back to my house- actually Jimmy’s apartment.” Tommy grinned, passing the bag of money to Poppy and Park. 

_Last time I had money in my house it was stolen._

They all agreed to his instructions and greeted Tommy a goodbye before marching down their secret path, where apparently they told him that’s how Jimmy used to enter the warehouse as it led straight to his apartment. Strolling back to the hospital, the psychopath smiled to himself. Knowing that that was his last killing made him smile. Because it meant that he was excited for his new journey ahead of him. A life with Jimmy. 

_ 2 weeks later, Wednesday. _

_ Tommy’s house, the ramshackle.  _

  
  


After being successfully treated and having most of his wounds heal, Jimmy was officially discharged from the hospital by Joss, who Tommy was thankful he would never see again. It was a joyous day for the couple, especially Tommy because he waited so long for him to finally hold hands with him and walk out the hospital with him. Jimmy, at first struggled to walk, having been in bed in a vegetated state for so long but with the help of Tommy guiding him slowly he was making progress. For the agents, they visited Jimmy in the morning before his discharge to deliver him his normal clothes from his apartment. 

Ultimately, after pacing slowly up the road and the hilly street, pass the shops, they eventually arrived back at Tommy’s house. Which even the other hadn’t actually been in since the before the whole incident took place. But the main reason they were going there was because they were indeed going inside to pack.They decided that morning that they would straight away pack for Rayong. And catch the afternoon subway train there. 

Entering his house, he observed everything once more for the last time. Tommy once felt safe in that home, in his ramshackle. But he just couldn’t bare to stay in it any longer, knowing that just outside it Jimmy was club beaten to the head and dragged by his feet to the warehouse. All vulnerable. 

Jimmy was about to follow Tommy up the stairs to the bedroom but instead he heard faint yapping coming from the kitchen and so decided to see what it was. He opened the back door to discover the neighbours puppy happily barking outside. The neighbours puppy he named Phan. Crouching down fo scratch him and give him love “hello! It’s been a long time hasn’t it?” He asked in his baby voice. 

“Yes it has been long.” Tommy answered back in his own baby voice, causing Jimmy to giggle. He tapped on his back, smiling “come on we need to pack!” 

“Okay! I’m just saying goodbye to Phan!” Jimmy beamed back, cuddling the puppy in his arms before waving goodbye to it and letting it run free in the garden. Tommy felt all warm but considerably hurt watching this, so he sat next to Jimmy like they regularly used to do. 

“You know, in our new house in Rayong, I would consider getting a puppy.” He smiled brightly back. 

“Really??” The other squealed, putting his arm around him. 

“Yes, but for now you’re my puppy.” Tommy grinned, scratching under Jimmy’s chin lovingly. He giggled back and hugged him, before they both stood up and headed up the stairs to begin packing. 

_ 1pm  _

  
  


For Tommy there wasn’t that much for him to pack, only necessities like his clothing and that money. It was a shame for him though to be leaving his collection of weapons behind, as Jimmy was anxious about the fact that they wouldn’t allow such sharp objects on the train. But Tommy insisted on at least taking his small pocket knife and hiding it in his back pocket. Not that he was likely to use it any time soon but because he wanted to at least keep one memory of his first killing. 

As they were packing, it occurred to Jimmy that he was going to be seeing his parents for the first time in years. Inside, he was completely afraid of what they would say and how they would react. He would always say he was too busy to visit them due to his job, which was partly the truth. But they didn’t know of his actual life. The depression he suffered, the whole agency he formed, his killings. He wasn’t ashamed of his behaviour because he knew in the past he couldn’t control it. He just didn’t know how to face his parents knowing he was lying to them all these years. 

Tommy felt his anxiety, as if he could hear his thoughts and paused his packing to rest his hand on Jimmy’s “everything will be okay. It’s okay to be nervous, Jimmy.” He reassured, stroking his hair with the same hand. 

Jimmy sighed and nodded “I just..hope they accept me.” He continued to pack as Tommy nodded back. 

It took just over half an hour and they were done, but Jimmy still had things over at his apartment that he wanted so a trip to there and back took more time. Their train was around 2:30pm, so they had to make sure they weren’t late. 

_ 2:05pm _

_ Mark and Toy’s apartment, Bangkok.  _

It was obvious for the couple that they couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to their closest friends, their agents. They knew that they wouldn’t take this easy, and the couple already felt bad that they hadn’t told them about it sooner. But they had no choice now but to confront them. Jimmy and Tommy arrived at the third floor of the apartment flats, opposite Jimmy’s apartment. Reaching the door, they knocked loudly on it and waited for one of the agents to answer. 

“Tommy, Jimmy, what are you doing here?” Mark answered the door in bewilderment at their sudden arrival. 

“We decided to visit you guys, before we leave for Rayong.” Jimmy spoke softly, anxiously grabbing onto Tommy’s hand. 

Mark glanced suspiciously at them but grinned back “oh yes! Have fun you guys! You deserve this break!” He expression faltered however when he noticed the serious sad expressions on both their faces.

“We’re leaving for Rayong, but we’re never coming back.” Tommy explained, in a low voice. 

At first thinking it was a joke, he attempted to chuckle. But what they were saying was true, and indeed his face fell. “W-what?” He questioned. 

“What’s going on out here?” Toy asked, approaching them all and acknowledging their upset expressions. 

“They’re moving to Rayong. Forever.” Mark answered back emotionally, his voice trembling. 

The couple felt even more pain and hurt than they thought they would. It was the hardest thing for them to do, telling their closest friends they’re leaving for good. 

“Y-you’re both leaving??” Toy questioned, also becoming emotional. He immediately rushed to hug Jimmy, gulping down his sobs “I hope you both live a happy life.” 

Mark nodded, emotionally wiping his eyes “Uh huh, you both deserve this. It’s for the best.” In response, he hugged both Jimmy and Tommy who tried their best not to become too upset for them to handle. 

More voices came from the apartment the voices of Park and Poppy who overheard everything. Park was the first one to speed out the apartment and push the other out the way to sob onto Jimmy and Tommy’s shoulders “I’m going to miss you both so much!” He sobbed uncontrollably. 

“Park, come on now.” Tommy sighed, patting his back to calm him down. 

“I wish you guys all the best. Hopefully we will all meet in the future, right?” Poppy smiled tearfully, after giving them both a pat on the shoulder. 

“Oh, Mark! H-Here..” Jimmy announced in his shaky voice, he revealed some keys and handed them to the devastated Mark. “It’s the keys to my apartment and warehouse.” 

“The warehouse??” Mark questioned. 

“You take care of it now, do what you want with it.” Jimmy beamed back, now with tears streaming down his face. His lifelong friends, Mark and Toy were all he had at one point. They were truly loyal to him. “You both wanted to see me happy, well I’m happy now!” Jimmy exclaimed, putting his arm round Tommy and resting his head on his shoulder. 

In that moment, when they all felt a little less emotional, they were brought into a close group hug. That lasted long. Longer than the one in the hospital. Better, in Tommy’s opinion, because Jimmy was with him. And after that they decided they had to leave then and there, before all the emotions became unbearable for them. 

Hand in hand, they gazed up happily at each other. Thinking the same thing. And carrying their luggage, they left the apartment building. Excited to begin their new adventures, the two of them. 

_We’re escaping together, just the two of us. I will finally live the life I’ve always wanted, with him. My Jimmy._


	17. Life in Rayong

_2 years later_

_Tommy’s narration_

_I never imagined that I would ever meet someone as perfect as him. I never imagined that I would have a different life. A happy life. For so long, I would wander through darkness I thought would be endless. A psychopath like myself enjoyed the darkness once, until I realised that it feeds upon those you care about. I never had anyone to care about before he arrived, as I was stubborn and selfish. However, he changed me. For the best._

_I’m not afraid of myself anymore. Like I was before. Afraid of my feelings. When I was diagnosed with abnormal psychopathic behaviour, anti social behaviour disorder and depression by my therapist, I was afraid._

_Jimmy showed me I shouldn’t be afraid. Having these behaviours don’t make you any less of a human. You’re unique in your own significant way. And I’ve changed in a significant way because of him. The love of my life._

_There are no reasons why I should be afraid, when I have Jimmy by my side. There are no reasons why I should ashamed of my illness, my psychological disturbances that affected me in the past. No reasons why I shouldn’t be happy. No reasons why._

_ South beaches of Rayong, Tommy’s favourite place.  _

_ Summer, 7pm _

Peaceful and tranquil, with the waves of the sea gently engulfing the first half of the sand as they collided together. Seagulls fleeing out of the couple’s way who sat on their sandy beach mat to watch the sunset on another adventurous day of their eventful life. You could barely recognise them, but you would know it was them. For the way the shorter one would gaze up to the giant with such adoration, instead of watching the beautiful nature in front of him. 

Tommy, clinging onto Jimmy’s left arm, rested his head on his shoulder. Allowing the sea breeze to wash over them in their matching Hawaiian shirts over their sun kissed skin. 

  
Tommy sighed with genuine happiness, gazing up to his boyfriend who acknowledged him with a bright smile back, his legs stretched out “the sunset is always beautiful, isn’t it?” 

“What sunset? I’m looking at you, because you are always beautiful.” Tommy beamed back, blushing slightly as Jimmy giggled at his attempt to compliment him. 

“P’Tommy why are you still trying to flirt with me? It’s been 2 years.” The tall one smirked back, amused. They would always joke like this together, have inside secrets and basically just compliment each other whenever they had the chance. That’s their love. 

“Has it worked yet?” Tommy grinned, stroking the arm that he possessed for that moment. 

Shrugging, Jimmy suddenly switched to face his way, causing the other to fall back onto the beach mat. “It has.” Jimmy grinned back mischievously in response. 

“You’re gonna get sand in my hair.” Tommy sulked, as Jimmy pulled him back up from the ground.

“It’s okay, baby. We’ll take a shower later.” Jimmy smiled lovingly back, stroking his hair gently. He parted some strands of his hair out the way so he could place a small soft kiss on his forehead. 

Bashful, Tommy buried his head on his chest whilst he squeezed Jimmy back. After hugging for a few minutes, they then left the beach together back to their blissful condo expansion. Much cleaner, brighter than Tommy’s old derelict ramshackle. It was a cozy home, that they felt much more safer with up to date security and passcodes to enter in and out. Their home was close to the beach area they loved so much, but also not far away from Jimmy’s parent’s house. The area they lived in was so peaceful and exotic and at first it took Tommy a while for him to become familiar with the tranquility. As after living in a chaotic and corrupted city for so long, sudden silence with only sounds of nature felt strange to him. But his love for the area grew, increasingly like how his love for Jimmy grew. 

They entered their luxurious house which began with the large kitchen section, all furniture white and sparkling clean. But for Jimmy, whose obsessive cleaning behaviour developed whilst they were there, it wasn’t clean enough. For the visitors that would arrive later in the week. 

That morning, Tommy received text messages from the group chat he and Jimmy were in with their closest friends they continued to stay in contact with. Saying that they were going to travel to Rayong to visit them in person. And that evening, he received more messages with more updates on this. 

“Jimmy, he said they’re going to travel together all four of them.” Tommy read aloud, sitting opposite him at their kitchen table. 

“Really??” The other questioned, beginning to think. He suddenly began to panic “are they going to stay here the night?? We don’t have enough bed sheets a-and in the guest room there is a double bed-“ 

“So? Just make Mark and Toy sleep in the same bed.” Tommy shrugged, scrolling up and down on his phone. 

“But Park and Poppy??” 

“They can sleep outside.” Tommy smirked, amused at his sense of humour along with Jimmy. But his expression went back to being serious when he began to worry. 

Tommy, seeing this, went up to him and put his arms around his neck with a reassuring smile “They’ll just be satisfied with the fact that we’re living a happy life, right? No reasons to impress them when they’re already our friends.” 

“I guess.” Jimmy sighed, glancing up at him “it doesn’t matter, to be honest I don’t know what I’m worried about. No reasons why I should be worried, right?” 

Understanding each other is the key to a loving relationship, in Tommy’s mind. With him, Tommy would find ways to understand him well. Without exactly knowing his actual reason for, perhaps, worrying. Acknowledging his anxiety and trying to reassure him, was what he learnt from Jimmy in the first place who he would always remember in his own flashbacks being this way. Lately though it was the other way around, due to family stresses Jimmy would mildly suffer from at least once a week. 

Living in a permanent accommodation in Rayong wasn’t easy, it was much more expensive than Jimmy’s old apartment rent in Bangkok and it was certainly more expensive than Tommy’s illegal ramshackle. And because of this, they both had to help out to earn enough to pay rent which meant jobs such as helping Jimmy’s family out once a week in their own seafood restaurant or turning up at their house to do their chores. Demeaning jobs like this, which Tommy couldn’t deny he despised at first. But it is all worth at the end of the day, to live a normal life with Jimmy. 

_ Tuesday morning, 11am  _

“They’re coming to Rayong today!” Tommy squeaked out, whilst reading the incoming exciting text messages on his phone. 

They had just woken up from a long enjoyable night, both feeling completely worn out and lazy until that one message from Mark caused them both to leap out of bed. “Already??” Jimmy questioned, scouring the bedroom floor in order to find T-shirt that he misplaced somewhere. 

“Fuck!” Tommy cursed, joining the other to find his bright rainbow coloured T-shirt he was wearing the night before that was also misplaced. 

“I told you not to throw it so carelessly. But you’re always in a hurry to remove T-shirt before I do.” Jimmy grinned suggestively, as Tommy rolled his eyes at his comment. 

Before replying back, he checked his phone to see if there were any new messages but apart from Park sending lots of excited emoji messages to which Tommy was close to cursing back at, there was nothing important. So, pushing his phone to the side, he unexpectedly hopped onto Jimmy’s crouched back. “Stand up! Let’s find them!” Tommy smirked, hugging Jimmy’s neck tight and planting a kiss on his cheek. 

“This is just an excuse for you not to use your legs isn’t it?” Jimmy chuckled, rising up from the floor straight to grab hold of the other’s legs. 

“I like riding you though.” Planting another quick kiss on the cheek, Jimmy glanced suggestively towards him before instead twirling around to place Tommy gently laid back on the bed. 

“Say that again.” Jimmy smirked, stroking Tommy’s hair gently as they both gazed into each other’s eyes wantonly. 

“Jimmy! My T-shirt!” Tommy squeaked, suddenly remembering that they had to get ready for their friends arrival later in the day. Allowing him to sit up from the bed, he swiftly glanced to the right side of the room and on the balcony there he saw his T-shirt. “There it is!” 

“My baby threw it so far this time!” Jimmy giggled, hopping over to the balcony to throw it back to him. 

“Shut up.” He rolled his eyes, laughing to himself. Genuine laughter, genuine happiness. An emotion he never thought he could release, but all he needed was a Jimmy. 

_2pm_

According to Tommy’s further received messages from the agents, they all overslept and missed their afternoon train. Which meant that, since Bangkok to Rayong by train is an hour and a half journey, they would have to wait and most likely arrive there in the evening. However this turned out to be most convenient for the couple because they instead made plans to have dinner with them at their most favourite restaurant near the beach. 

The couple loved to eat out, although at first it wasn’t easy for them especially with Tommy. Struggling to interact and socialise with others he didn’t know very well held him back most of the time when he was young, which was why he never experienced having friends before and why he struggled to communicate normally with people. And his reasons for this would be because he hates people. 

_ Flashback  _

_ A year ago.  _

“Tommy, are you okay?” Jimmy asked, anxiously approaching the other who was sat on the bed staring blankly at the floor. He was meant to be changing his clothes so that they could go out to eat at the table they booked at a seafood restaurant near them. But Tommy wasn’t feeling so good about this whole thing. 

“The only people I ever talk to are you and the agents.” Tommy sighed, as Jimmy joined him on the bed to listen to his problem. “All other people I hate. People judge, and sure we do the same, but most times they judge others so unnecessarily. Back in Bangkok when I would walk around wearing my usual black clothes and my masks I would feel people’s judgemental glances at me. It wouldn’t bother me then, but now I’m with you. It does.” 

Jimmy, putting his arm around Tommy, smiled back warmly “to be honest, I hate people too. For the reason you mentioned, I would get the same glances at me and I would always question why? Why me?” 

“I-I feel...that people may judge us as a couple. Judge me for being with you, because we may seem different. And it makes me feel that maybe I’m not good enough for you...” Tommy sulked, turning back to stare blankly again at the floor. 

“P’Tommy, look at me.” Jimmy called pushing his head to face him. “You’re the only one for me. Not good enough? If anyone knew you, knew about the times you protected me and that time you saved me when I was in danger, then they wouldn’t say that. No matter what anyone thinks, you’re mine.” 

Comforting him with a loving hug afterwards, he held Tommy in his arms and spoke “if you’re uncomfortable with this we don’t have to go out.” 

Shaking his head, the other replied back “no it’s okay. I have to learn, I’ll be fine.” He smiled back, then after another hug from Jimmy finally got himself ready to leave their house. 

It was the first time in a long time Jimmy and Tommy went on a proper date together, chatting and laughing together as they happily ate their seafood orders. Tommy remembers whenever he think of his night, the feelings he had whilst watching Jimmy then. Feelings of pure happiness and adoration. Feelings of being madly in love with him. 

A year later, and the feelings haven’t changed. Except, maybe I love Jimmy even more than I did before. 

_ 6pm _

“Oh my god!” A booming squeal from behind the couple who were sat at their reserved rooftop restaurant table waiting, caused not only them but for everyone else to react in response. Tommy knew who it was before he found out, and knowing that he was right he smacked his hand against his face. 

“Park, shut up!” Poppy hissed, smacking his arm in response. He apologised to the waiter who was meant to be showing them to their table. 

They both exclaimed when they saw the couple in person for the first time in 2 years. Park, staring at them both in shock, pointed “Is that really you, Tommy?” 

The reason they couldn’t recognise him was because of his outfit change. Going from his monotone black outfit he would wear every single day to a bright blue silky shirt and shorts. Not to mention the fact that he wasn’t wearing a mask or a black beanie. To them get was totally unrecognisable in appearance.

“Who else is it gonna be? I fucking invited you!” Tommy questioned in annoyance, causing the brothers to exclaim and roll theirs eyes. 

“Yep there’s the Tommy we know.” Poppy grinned, as they both sat opposite the couple. 

“Where’s Mark and Toy?” Jimmy asked, curiously. 

Turning around once again at the sound of those distinctive voices, Park and Poppy called the last agents who were searching for their table after being allowed onto the rooftop. Mark and Toy approaches the table, one very awkwardly and one with the same amount of surprise the others had before. 

“Jimmy it’s so good to finally see you!” Mark beamed, patting him on his back then pointing at Tommy sat next to him. “Are you Jimmy’s new boyfriend?”

After fake chuckling at his joke, Tommy frowned back at all their friends sat in a row opposite themselves. “Guys, am I really unrecognisable?” 

“You kidding? You’re wearing bright shirts, no mask, no beanie and no weapons on you! You’re totally not the Tommy you were before.” Mark grinned, putting his arm around Toy who silently listened to their conversation. 

“Who said I didn’t have a weapon.” Tommy smirked, reaching to the complimentary small tray on the side of their table and revealing a knife from the pot inside it. Brandishing it in front of them all.

“Uhh Tommy, thats a bread knife.” Poppy pointed out, causing everyone except Tommy to snigger out loud. 

“Not just any bread knife, the restaurants bread knife!” Mark gasped, mockingly but retracted when he noticed the other’s threatening glares back. 

“Baby.” Jimmy whispered to Tommy, although it was loud enough for the whole table to hear. “You left it in your back pocket, you forgot to put it in the pot.” Jimmy took out his prized weapon, his infamous pocket knife. 

Causing the agents to leap up from their seat and exclaim “are you crazy?! Put that away!” Tommy hid it back in his pocket, disappointed with his attempt to scare the agents. 

“It’s okay P’Tommy.” Jimmy smiled brightly, as Tommy leaned on his shoulder softly. For a moment they forgot that they were in the company of others. Their friends, who supportively made gagging noises at the sight of their blossoming love.

“I haven’t even eaten yet and you’re both making me sick.” Park exaggerated, continuing the gagging noises until Tommy stuck his middle finger at him. 

“Jeez you may not look like him, but you’re Tommy alright.” Mark sighed, picking up the menu in front of him to read. 

Soon everyone was doing the same, browsing through the many meal options on the menu. However, Jimmy couldn’t help but notice that one of friends was yet to speak to them properly. Or even make eye contact with them both properly. “Toy, are you okay? You haven’t said anything.” Jimmy anxiously asked. 

“Oh, yeah I’m okay.” Toy glanced up from the menu to reply back but swiftly went back to browsing again. 

“He’s been moody like this all day.” Mark explained, patting Toy on the head “it’s really affected you hasn’t it?” 

“What’s affected you?” Tommy asked curiously, and this question gained the attention from all of them to anticipate an answer from him. 

With all eyes fixated on him, Toy let out a sigh and grabbed hold of Mark’s hand under the table before explaining “I had that job interview a week ago and on Monday I got a call back saying they wanted me for a second interview. I attended it, but it didn’t go well because guess who joined the interview that day?”

“Uhh, anyone we know?” Park questioned, but shut himself up after receiving a punch from his brother. 

“Joss.” 

_ Joss? W-what?  _

Tommy, pondering as he listened to Toy’s problem, lifted his head up with a exasperated expression on his face at the name mentioned. “Joss? The Joss? That fucking pathetic doctor at the hospital??” He snapped, after receiving a shaky nod in confirmation from Toy. 

“What the fuck was he doing there??” Poppy cursed. 

“I applied to be a bodyguard at a local nightclub. It turns out, he owns that club.” Toy sighed, squeezing Mark’s hand desperately. 

In absolute shock and anger, Tommy glared fiercely “let me get this straight, Joss owns a fucking nightclub but he works in a fucking hospital??” 

“Wait, you didn’t tell me about this part?!” Mark shouted, turning to Toy who was feeling quite afraid. “Why not?!” 

“B-because...he..he threatened to kill me.” Toy spluttered, now clutching onto the menu. The whole table with their jaws dropped, dared not to speak. Instead, the agents and his boyfriend awaited for Tommy to speak up. Which he would normally do in this situation.

And he did “When? Explain more, give me details.” He tapped on Jimmy to let him know he wanted his phone to record what Toy was about to say. “Speak.” 

“It was before the interview I saw him. He reacted differently to that of when he did in the hospital back when Jimmy was injured. He recognised me completely then, I think, because he knew I knew Tommy. Joss approached me, and took me to the side and he said these exact words to me.” 

By the time Toy was finished, he let out some repressed tears and clutched onto Mark who comforted him swiftly. It went dead silent, with everyone continuing back to reading the menu. As the waiters finally arrived to take the tables order, Tommy contemplated the whole situation. Contemplating as if he hadn’t done so in such a long time. Because there was nothing really to contemplate about in his life, he was happy with Jimmy and that was it. 

He couldn’t help but think that this situation would ruin it all. Especially if he did that one thing because he knew it would ruin his mental well-being. Whilst the foods they ordered slowly began to arrive, he suddenly felt quite anxious due to a horrible thought in his mind. He tugged onto Jimmy’s shirt lightly as the other was about to begin eating his food. 

“P’Tommy are you okay?” Jimmy questioned as he immediately noticed his distress increasing. 

Becoming red with a flush of frustration he clutched onto his shirt, glaring straight at Toy who was now calmly mingling with the agents and eating his food. “You.” He spat out, causing the agents opposite to pause and glance at the one he fixated at.

“What?” Toy replied back in confusion, putting down his fork. 

“You want me to kill Joss, dont you?” Tommy growled back, restraining his anger. With everyone except him and Toy panicking in case anyone overheard their conversation. 

“Tommy, shut up!” Mark hissed in a low voice to him, however he was ignored. 

“That’s why you came here. Not to socialise with me and Jimmy, but to ask me for a “favour”. To use me as your fucking puppet and drag me back to Bangkok!” He continued with increasing rage at the confused agent, who was speechless at this moment in time. 

_ I won’t do it. I won’t. I can’t...  _

“What the fuck are you on about?!” Poppy screeched back, also in a low voice. Although, he and Park fell silent when they saw the most horrific, frustrated expression appear on Tommy’s face. 

They all turned to the only person they knew could calm him down. “P’Tommy, it’s okay. Look at me, you’re okay.” He clutched his hand and inhaled in and out to push the other to follow him. 

_ Jimmy..you always know how to calm me down.  _

Tommy feebly smiled back at his loving boyfriend, closing his eyes as he was pulled into a gentle hug. Their friends opposite watched them both cautiously, in case Tommy would snap again. They patiently waited for him to calm down and when he did, he smiled up at Jimmy to thank him and then silently began eating the food in front of him. 

“Listen, Tommy.” Toy began calmly, causing the psychopath to glance up from the plate with a straight face. “That’s not what it seems...I-I just.. I just want help. That’s all. Anything. I didn’t mean it that way.” 

Tommy sighed and nodded “I know you didn’t. Because you know..that I don’t do that kind of stuff anymore. I-I may threaten you guys with my knife but...that’s all.” Jimmy, agreeing with him, put his arm around his shoulders. 

“So...you’re not a psychopath anymore?” Park scoffed, but for the third time that night received a threatening glare from the man and hesitated. 

“I still have milk first so yeah I am.” Tommy smirked after a while causing them all to snigger at his joke. 

“But seriously? No more killing?” Poppy questioned, whilst they all ate their different plates of seafood.

“You actually think I enjoyed killing? Well here’s a news flash, it fucking depressed me. My psychological disorder and anti social side of me enjoyed it, but that wasn’t my true happiness. I wasn’t happy. But now I am.” Tommy explained, pausing to turn to Jimmy who stopped eating. Gazing at him in adoration, “Because I have you.” 

“P’Tommy!” Jimmy giggled, blushing bright red as they both stared deep into each other’s eyes for a moment. It wasn’t until Poppy coughed loudly and uncomfortably that they stopped and turned back to their attention. 

“Mark.” After realising a fact he learned at the hospital when they first met Joss, Tommy approached him instead “didnt you say that Joss was your good friend?” 

“Well obviously not anymore.” Mark retorted back, shrugging as he laughed uncomfortably. “But...yeah he w-was.” 

“In what way?” Tommy asked suspiciously. 

“Excuse me?” 

“Mark. Why is it that Joss hates you? And why did it lead him to threatening Toy? You must’ve done something to anger him, anything.” Tommy repeated what Toy had informed them of in the recording they had done. 

“You know I thought we were going to talk about  your life? You both have been living here for 2 years why don’t you tell us all your stories” Mark scowled back. With the tension caused by frustration between the two affecting everyone at the table, Jimmy had to put an end to that discussion. 

“You’re right, we’re sorry. You haven’t seen us in ages so let’s talk about more friendlier things, hmm?” He commented back, awaiting for an answer from Tommy. “We can discuss about that matter later.” 

Abruptly, the silence after this was ended by Park and Poppy who wanted to break their uncomfortable state they were in since the discussion about Toy’s problem began. They didn’t understand it well, neither did the others but all they really wanted was to know what Jimmy and Tommy did all this time they were away. 

Once they were asked this, the couple became more relaxed and revealed to them all about their adventures together. How they explored the mountains, the numerous times they sat at the beach watching the sunset hand in hand. How their life felt normal, but not boring normal, happy normal. 

Hours passed, and they group finished all their foods at the table. Before leaving the rooftop restaurant for good, Jimmy, Toy and Poppy left to use the men’s bathroom. The rest continued to chat amongst themselves whilst they waited “so...Tommy you really like it here?” Park began. 

“Weren’t you listening? Of course I like it here. I love it, it’s so peaceful. Calming for the mind. Whenever I feel stressed, I either talk with Jimmy or just rest at the beach. But that hardly occurs to me anymore compared to before.” Tommy sighed cheerily, with a wide smile on his face. “Jimmy. He makes everything so easy for me.” 

“You’re both really in love aren’t you? Guess you don’t miss Bang-“ Mark attempted to finish his sentence but noticed the sour expression on Tommy’s face at what he was about to mention. 

“Why would I miss that corrupted hellhole? It wasn’t a home, I didn’t feel safe there. Every moment I spent there was just pain, and more pain. Leaving me with nothing but bad memories.” 

“Bad memories? What about when you met Jimmy?” Park asked curiously, causing the other to roll his eyes. 

“Obviously not that-“ Tommy let out a sigh of frustration and just decided to completely ignore his question. “I wouldn’t go back there. I just can’t. My life is here now with Jimmy, I don’t want anything to ruin that.” 

“That city may be a hellhole but some of us still live there.” Mark sulked back. 

“I know that. I just...I can’t ever go back there.” Tommy sighed, pushing the empty plates to one side. They fell silent again after that, waiting for the others to return from the toilets. 

Even though he couldn’t help but think about it a lot, he still didn’t understand the situation. He instantly knew that Joss was dodgy from the start, what kind of doctor doesn’t want to be known as a doctor? Maybe he wasn’t even one. But Mark reassured him that despite owning a nightclub he still was a licensed medical practitioner, mentioning he saw the certificates with his own eyes. He couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of Joss threatening to kill Toy at his informal interview. 

They returned back from the toilets, breaking Tommy’s train of thought. “Right, so who’s paying?” Mark grinned, provoking them all with the bill.

“I will-“ Jimmy attempted to finish his sentence but was interrupted by Tommy who leapt up from his seat with his wallet in his hand. 

“No, I will.” Tommy proudly flashed the amount of bucks he kept in his wallet and the revealed the right amount to cover the bill onto the plate.

“P’Tommy’s such a gentleman.” Jimmy beamed admiringly, walking across to him to grab his hand. 

“A rich gentlemen?” Poppy smirked, as they all got up from the table and left the rooftop restaurant in a large group. 

“Do I look fucking rich to you? I just happen to have enough money for survival.” He snarled back. After stepping down the stairs and entering outside engulfed by the increasingly dark sky, they began traveling as a group to Jimmy’s and Tommy’s beach condo where they lived.

_ 9pm _

“This house is just for survival right?” Poppy mocked their earlier conversation as the agents entered their condo. To view how much cleaner and wider it was compared to the ramshackle Tommy used to live in. 

“Shut up Poppy.” Jimmy rolled his eyes, turning the lights of the spacious living room on. 

Crashing down on the large couch, relaxing and chilling out, until Tommy after pondering for ages decided to hit them with his advice on Toy’s current situation. What he learnt from his account was that Joss was angered by something Mark did to him and took it out on Toy instead, remembering that they’re close friends. But what was it? That was question since Toy reported to Jimmy before in the toilets that he was refusing to tell him.

_ Strange. Why is he being this secretive? Not that I doubt Mark as a person, he’s just not cooperating as well as I thought he would.  _

Tommy wasn’t at all shocked to hear that Joss was indeed a dodgy character, he despised him. A similar hatred to the one he shared with Max. And everyone associated with him. It would be a lie to say that the thought of him as an associate hadn’t crossed his mind. 

“Okay, I want to resolve this without any violent confrontations.” Tommy abruptly announced, ending the other’s chatting and drinking together. “Toy, if this is just because Joss is upset with Mark then maybe he can resolve this issue instead. Apologise or whatever.” 

“Apologise?” Mark sneered, smirking to himself in disbelief. He drank his beer bottle and turned to Jimmy “you’ve definitely made him soft.” 

“Will you stop being a prick and just admit to why he’s angry at you!” Tommy yelled back, causing everyone to feel uncomfortable. 

“Listen, it’s complicated okay?” Mark sighed, his face turning bright red as he continued to fill the alcohol into his system. 

“Tommy I appreciate the help. But Joss, I know he won’t just accept an apology. I-I dont know what he wants...” Toy mumbled, letting out a sigh before pouring another drink into his shot glass.

“We don’t know. But Mark does.” Jimmy frowned, glaring at Mark sitting on the floor next to him. Soon, they all joined him in giving intimidating glares to him. 

Becoming irritated, he slammed down his empty bottle of beer onto the table, slurring “fine! Gang up on me. I don’t give a shit.” 

“Sorry, Toy. I can’t- I mean we can’t help you.” Tommy shrugged, changing the pronoun in his sentence when Jimmy nudged his side slightly. 

They all continued the glaring at Mark, who was feeling all drunken and sleepy from the alcohol and therefore rested his head on the table. After a few rounds of drinking and talking within their own groups, when they all felt sleepy but not as drunk as Mark was, they decided to try and wake him up. 

“How is he still passed out? He had less beers than all of us.” Poppy commented, as he began to slap Mark’s head to try and wake him up. And the rest joined by prodding him and smacking him to wake him up. 

“Remember? He’s a lightweight.” Toy sighed, only he decided not to join in to wake him up. Only because he had thought of something else, so he collected a clean regular sized glass from the table and filled it with thekitchen tap water. “Lift his head up.” He ordered, and when the henchmen brothers did so that when he chucked the water in Mark’s face. 

Spluttering, he slowly moved his hands from Park and Poppy’s grip to wipe his eyes. “What the fuck?” He screeched aggressively. He immediately assumed that it was Tommy who threw the water at him, and attempted to try and grab him. 

“Mark fuck off!” Tommy shouted, scrambling away from his attempts and throwing the pillows on the couch at him. 

“Stop it! I threw the water at you!” Toy cried out, rushing to him to try and get him to calm down. 

“You??” Mark questioned, his voice still a bit slurry. He clasped his head in pain, suffering from a massive headache and dizziness. 

“Yes. Don’t worry though, all you need is rest. Just go to sleep, okay?” Toy reassured, helping him up off the floor. Before taking him into the guest bedroom, he made sure it was okay with Jimmy and Tommy. When it was confirmed, he carried him to the room following their instructions. 

All the craziness of Mark’s drunken behaviour quietened down, and soon the rest all began to feel sleepy. Toy joined Mark in the bedroom who was fast asleep snoring loudly whereas Park and Poppy slept on the sofa bed, in the second room past the guest bedroom upstairs. Leaving Jimmy and Tommy alone, cleaning up the glasses and bottles left in the main living room. 

“What a peaceful night.” Tommy remarked in sarcasm, sweeping the broken glass from Mark’s earlier drunken incident. 

“It..wasn’t how I expected it to be.” Jimmy muttered, after washing up the dirty shot glasses. “I know I said I missed the craziness but...Mark is never usually this awful. Something is bothering him.” 

“He’s too stubborn to tell us.” 

“But it’s not like him, he used to tell me and Toy everything about his life. I don’t know.” Jimmy let out a disappointing sigh, after they both successfully finished tidying the living room. 

_ 2am _

_My insomnia.. it’s.. it’s gone!_

That was the exact words Tommy thought of, the third night they moved to Rayong about two years ago. He was right, his insomnia was caused by all the troubles and stresses he had going on in his life around that time. And his insomnia aggravated his intense paranoia. His psychological delusions. However, it was as if they all vanished when he left Bangkok. He remembers saying to Jimmy, hugging him that third night staying at Rayong, that he felt peaceful. He explained to him he had all these paranoid feelings before, but they just disappeared from him. 

_ 2:15am _

Startled, Tommy woke up from snuggling with a Jimmy who was fast asleep in bed. When he heard noisy footsteps creaking due to the floorboards. He quietly got out of bed, reaching into the open draws for his protective pocket knife as he crept to the shut bedroom door. Counting to three under his breath, Tommy opened the door swiftly to witness a tall dark figure standing near the door. 

“Tommy?” The figure spoke, causing the other to retract his weapon and turn on the hallway light, shutting the bedroom door. 

“Mark? What are you doing up?” Tommy yawned, putting his weapon behind his back. 

“Sorry to wake you, I just...I wanna apologise.” Mark whispered, trying his best not to make the floorboards creak. “For my behaviour and everything.” 

“Don’t worry about it.” They both leapt out from their spots when they heard a voice coming from the master bedroom. Jimmy turned the bedroom light on and opened the door to see the two men standing outside it. 

“Sorry I woke you up, baby.” Tommy smiled gently, stroking his face as he crept back into the bedroom. 

“It’s okay. Mark, come in.” Jimmy spoke in a low voice as to not wake the others up. They both entered the bedroom, shutting the door tight. 

“Listen.” Mark began, in his normal voice as he sat on the bed near to Jimmy and Tommy. “I will tell you why Joss is mad at me. I just wanted to tell you guys privately, I’m a bit embarrassed.” 

“Sure, you can tell us. We won’t tell anyone.” Tommy replied back, anticipating to hear his story. 

“Okay...umm so me and Joss we’ve been friends for a long time. Like he knows I’m in your agency and everything but once in a while he would always try and persuade me to join his clubs, particularly his nightclub. I would always refuse because I’m happy with Jimmy and his business is known to be quite dodgy and illegal too-“ 

He was interrupted by Jimmy and Tommy sniggering “our business is illegal too you know.” 

“Fuck I know that! It’s just- can you not interrupt me?” Mark hissed. 

He waited for them to remain silent before continuing “I don’t know it was something about him, I knew I wouldn’t feel quite safe working for him. So I would decline, and he was fine with it. Until recently, he offered me an exclusive job. This was just after you both moved here, because he noticed I had the warehouse all to myself. He kept prodding at me to hand over the warehouse to him and to join with his gang. Once he visited the warehouse and we had an argument, things got out of hand and we fought each other. He tried to steal the keys to the warehouse but Toy caught him and tripped him over. So since that incident he would track my movements and when I wasn’t there he would attempt to steal the warehouse again. However Toy would always stop him. That could be one reason why he is mad at me and why he threatened Toy.”

“What’s the other reason?” Tommy questioned, he was listening to this story but in his mind he knew this couldn’t be the main reason to this problem. 

“That one...is the personal one. I-I mean-“ Mark began to stutter, wiping the sweat from his forehead. 

“Just fucking tell me so I can sleep!” Tommy snapped impatiently. 

“P’Tommy!” Jimmy frowned, patting on his back and pulling him to rest on his shoulder. 

Confused, Mark shook his head at their behaviour before continuing his explanation again “another reason might be because that wasn’t the only thing I rejected him for. Around the same time, h-he confessed to me.” 

“Confessed what?” 

“That...he had other feelings for me..more than a friend. But I didn’t feel the same way. I rejected him, politely but he didn’t take it nicely.” Mark mumbled, staring down at the bed. 

“Oh...damn.” Tommy muttered, beginning to think. He shrugged back “well.. thanks for telling us.” 

Just as Mark was about to leave the room to go back to sleep, he was stopped by Jimmy who unexpectedly grabbed hold of his arm. “But...that reason doesn’t explain why Joss is threatening Toy.” 

“What?” Mark responded, suddenly feeling nervous and sweaty. 

“You rejecting Joss explains why he is mad at you but where does Toy come into all of this?” With Tommy also agreeing with him, they awaited to see Mark’s further response. 

“Uhh..well this probably isn’t the main reason then.” He attempted to pass off this as an actual answer but this didn’t fool the couple. 

“Fucking hell, just tell us! We already said we won’t tell anyone!” Tommy frustratedly screeched back, laying back in his bed with his arms crossed. 

_ Toy. why would he be involved in this part? Wait... _

Jimmy sat back down on the bed after letting go of Mark, in deep thought. Thinking back to those teenage-adult days when the 3 of them used to hand out. Because he had a memory of Mark discussing something similar with him. He just needed to concentrate harder on that memory. 

Minutes later, it came to him. Jimmy stood up, raising his finger at Mark who was increasingly becoming anxious. “I remember.” He announced. “I remember what it is.” 

“What? What is it?” Tommy, intrigued, asked as he observed the two. 

He lowered his finger down to address Mark with his serious expression. “You...you still have feelings for him?” He questioned, in a low voice. 

“W-what?” Mark stuttered, wiping his neck for sweat. 

“You still like Toy in that way?” At that second question, he stared down at the ground to avoid eye contact with Jimmy. But he nodded. 

“You like Toy?!” Tommy shouted, in astonishment. The two standing up shushed his lots voice. 

_ I remember...I remember him telling me he liked Toy once. Years and years ago. But he was unsure about it. And so was I. I told him it was just a crush and we both laughed it off.  _

“You told me to forget about those feelings, but I couldn’t.” Mark finally spoke after holding those words in for so long. “I kept it hidden for so long. For such a long time..s-so when Joss wanted to know the reason why I rejected him it just slipped out.”

“Y-You told Joss you have feelings for Toy? That does explain why he is mad at you. He’s threatening Toy because he’s jealous.” Tommy explained back, receiving agreement from Jimmy and Mark. 

“Mark, I’m so sorry.” Jimmy hugged him with sincere sadness. “I was an immature kid then, I didn’t understand things like that then. I must’ve thought you were joking.” 

“It’s okay.” Mark sighed, letting go of him and attempting to exit the room. 

Tommy curiously asked “So what are you going to do now? Keep onto your feelings?” Before getting properly back into bed. 

“No. I’m going to go teach Joss a lesson.” Mark grinned, wickedly before finally exiting the room. 

Exhausted, the couple couldn’t speak about the situation anymore and so when they got back into bed they straight away snuggled each other back to sleep. 

_ Late morning.  _

Fully briefed with the plan they all, mostly Tommy, concocted together, the agents had the job of catching the train back to Bangkok later that day. The plan was not to harm Joss unless he harms him first or shows any intention of harming him. Him being Mark, who insisted on going alone to the nightclub. But not totally alone, because Jimmy and Tommy from their house in Rayong would be guiding him due to the technological skills Toy learnt from Nat which allowed him to access hidden cameras and connect them to headsets. Nat would use these when needed to as a lookout, when Jimmy’s agency used to be involved in a lot of gang business. 

The couple felt weary at first about using this kind of technology, since they weren’t as skilled but Toy explained to them that all they really had to was ensure Mark’s safety in the nightclub. Inserting the camera onto Mark’s straps, he turned it on to test whether Jimmy and Tommy could see it on their computer screen. Next, checking the earpieces that would go into Mark and his ears so they could hear Tommy’s instructions. It took a while to set up, but as the technology Toy collected was a bit slow, it was understandable. 

With everything set up for the operation, the agents were about to leave their house until Jimmy stopped Mark and pulled him to one side. “Hey, so what are you going to do?” 

“What do you mean?” Mark shrugged. 

“About Toy? Are you really not going to speak with him about your-“ 

“Jimmy, I’ll be okay. When the time is right then I will.” Mark reassured, he smiled back at him and Tommy before joining the rest who had left the house. 

Occupants of the house reduced back to two again, with the couple feeling a little disappointed. They couldn’t help but feel this way, because all they really wanted was peace. Not just themselves but their friends to feel peaceful too. They didn’t expect much trouble to happen to them when they left them, which made them feel bad for leaving them in the first place. 

“I didn’t expect their arrival to be like this, you know?” Jimmy sighed, staring at wall opposite him. They both sat down on the couch and rested together. 

“I know. I didn’t either.” Tommy muttered, closing his eyes when he nestled his head on his shoulder like he would always do. 

“I thought the dinner would be joyful, and we would laugh and joke together. And catch up on everything they’ve accomplished since we left. We didn’t even get to do that properly.” Feeling frustrated, he clutched onto Tommy’s hand before joining him in closing his eyes and resting. 

_Indeed, whenever we had time to message them, they seemed content with life so happy. Me and Jimmy wouldn’t guess that Toy was being threatened, that Mark was being troubled. And that the warehouse that was once Jimmy’s was at risk of being stolen. If it’s one thing I learnt, is the difference between saying you’re happy and showing it. How do I show that I’m happy? By just genuinely gazing up at Jimmy, by holding his hand when I can, by impulsively beaming at him everyday. I can say I’m happy. But Mark and the rest, they can’t. They’re not content with life until they face their troubles just like I did._

_I faced Max for Jimmy. We as a group, excluding Jimmy, faced Zee for Nat’s safety. Now its Mark to face Joss. For Toy’s protection._

_ Joss’ Nightclub. Bangkok.  _

_ 8pm _

“Can you hear me?” Jimmy shouted, turning the volume up on the computer so he could listen. 

“Ow! Yes I can hear.” Mark scowled, annoyed by his loud voice so he put the volume low on his ear piece. 

“I can too, thanks for hurting my ears.” Toy scolded, in a low voice. They were both just outside the nightclub, hidden behind a dumpster just opposite it. Witnessing a long queue to the main entrance of the nightclub, where a bodyguard larger than Park was standing checking everyone’s IDs. 

On the other side of them, was the brothers also hiding and waiting for their signal to get into their position. Their job was to distract the bodyguards that were guarding the main entrances and the entrance to the VIP zone, which was where Mark and Toy were aiming to go to. 

“The queue enlarging, now would be the good time to go and distract the bodyguard so Mark and Toy can slip behind him.” Tommy instructed, through Mark’s body camera which was aimed carefully at the entrance. He observed Park making his way first to the bodyguard who hadn’t reacted to him pushing through the queue. 

“Hey. You like protein bars?” Park randomly asked, punching the bodyguard on the shoulder. 

He removed his sunglasses and grinned “yeah I do. Good for the muscles.” He turned his back to face Park who revealed from his pocket a handful of different flavour protein bars. 

As the large man became distracted by the excitement at the addictive bars, Poppy entered the queue when instructed and purposely pushed Park onto the floor. “Woah, didn’t see you there!” Poppy smirked, snatching a protein bar of off him. 

“That’s my bar!” Park yelled, standing up and pushing his brother back. Soon, they caused a huge fight in the queue with everyone either joining in and causing more ruckus or with people rushing out of the queue. This diversion made the large bodyguard call the other bodyguard that was stood outside the VIP entrance. 

When that position was clear, that’s when Mark and Toy snuck from their hiding place and cautiously entered to see the VIP hallway and backstage. Observing closely, Jimmy and Tommy both noticed that their surrounding wasn’t totally clear.“Toy, to your right. Duck!” Following the instructions, Toy did indeed duck his head when a hidden figure in the shadow plunged at him with wooden plank. 

“That’s Joss’ security agents. Mark you go ahead and watch out for any surprises.” Tommy ordered, observing him nod and venture forwards to the backstage area where they were rooms marked private. 

“I don’t understand, how did you know that guy was hidden there?” Mark questioned, curiously scanning the area for anymore surprise attacks. 

“It’s an obvious hiding place, a large shadow. Nevermind, just check all the doors in case he is in one of them.”

Kicking down all the private doors resulted in nothing, as the rooms were dressing type rooms where performers at the nightclub would be. Toy finally approached Mark, but was once again left behind when two more security agents lept from behind him to attack him. 

“Why are his security team attacking us, how do they know we are here?” Mark questioned, feeling puzzled, as he walked around backstage to try and find an exit. 

“Security cameras.” Jimmy answered back “since we haven’t had access to them they can see if there are any intruders.” 

“M-Ma-Mark..” Toy mumbled, panting. 

“Toy?? are you okay??” Mark suddenly turned around and noticed Toy stumbling and clutching onto his stomach. The bodyguards were beaten up, but left a painful injury on the other causing him to collapse onto the ground. “No! Toy!” Mark pointed the camera on himself at Toy to show what was happening. 

“Mark! Calm down-“ Tommy commented, but he stopped. When another voice was picked up. The familiar voice he loathed. 

“He needs a doctor.” The smugness in the tone caused Mark to close his fists in rage and glance up to the man he recognised. The arrogant man, stating the profession he considered himself to be skilled in. 

“Joss. Fuck you!” Mark cursed, turning back to Toy’s attention. He removed his hand to reveal his protective gear to be penetrated through, leaving a deep cut in his skin. His blood pouring out. 

“Hey, I can help. To reduce blood loss, apply pressure to the wound this would reduce the blood flow.” Joss instructed, smirking. But his instructions weren’t aimed at Mark, who realised this when just as he was about to do so, a large boot from above crushed his hand in doing so. It was another bodyguard, who squelched his other large boot onto Toy’s stomach. 

Toy screamed in pain, causing Mark to increasingly grow agitated and attempt to push him off and fight him. But all this aggravated the bodyguard, making him apply further pressure over his agonising injury. 

“Joss, stop it! Please!” Mark begged, now approaching Joss in anger. “I just want to talk!” He raised his hands in desperation to get his attention. For a few minutes the other thought about this and then eventually told the bodyguard to stop. 

“Talk. You got five minutes.” He snarled back, folding his arms. “Till he dies.” Referring to suffering Toy on the floor. 

“You fucking-“ Mark, hesitating, inhaled and exhaled before continuing “look, I know you’re truly angry at me. Don’t take it out on him please. Take it out on me.” 

Meanwhile, back in Rayong, Jimmy and Tommy were too apprehensive on whether they would continue speaking to Mark st that moment in time. But they cautiously observed and listened in to their conversation, which turned into an argument. 

“I just wanna know, why him?” Joss growled back, aggressively. “Why that fucking pussy?” 

“Fuck you Joss! It’s none of your business! Stay away from me and him, do you understand?” Mark threatened, menacingly pointing his finger at the other. “Take all your anger out on me, hit me, kick me. Stab me. But not him, please. L-Let him live..” desperately, he grabbed hold of his arm and shook it until he made up his mind. 

“Alright.” Joss shrugged, he called the bodyguard and instructed him to apply first aid to Toy’s wound. “Now explain yourself, again. One last chance.” 

“What do you want me to say? That I like you? Well I don’t, not in that way. I especially don’t now since you threaten my close friend and try to steal my warehouse!” Mark yelled one his face, raising his fists in intense rage. 

“Mark, stop lying to yourself. You don’t give a shit about that crappy warehouse.” 

“But you do. I’m not letting the warehouse fall into the wrong hands.” Mark hissed back, pushing Joss away from him in frustration. 

“Looks like your “Toy” is in the wrong hands too. I told my bodyguard to give him the special first aid treatment.” Joss arrogantly sneered back, with a sinister smirk on his face. 

Having enough listening to their argument, Tommy finally spoke in his earpiece “Mark! Mark! You there? I’ve had enough of you being soft with him. Just kill the fucking smug prick!” 

_ That’s what I call instructions.  _

With a sudden wide smirk on his face, he raised his eyebrows at Joss who suspiciously stared back at him. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” He questioned, glancing at the sides until he spotted the fitted earpieces in Mark’s ear. “Fucking ear pieces?? Who you talking to?” 

“Tommy. Yeah he’s been giving me instructions this time.” Mark replied back, also displaying a rather intimidating grin on his face. 

“Why are you a fucking baby or something?” Joss scoffed back, sniggering at his own joke. 

“No. Just like how you instruct your bodyguards he instructs me. Right now, he instructed me to and I quote “fucking kill the smug prick” I wonder who he was talking about?” Menacingly he aimed a harsh punch at Joss causing him to fall back. But he straight away stood back up and punched him back. 

“You’re fucking dead, Mark!” Joss screamed back, continuing to aim punches at him but the other dodged them professionally. “You and Toy are both dead!” 

Aggressively, Mark grabbed Joss’ T-shirt by its collar and snarled back angrily “if you fucking touch Toy you will be sorry!” 

“Why? Why are you so protective of him? As if he will ever like you back anyway!” Joss screeched back, pushing him back. 

“I don’t care! I love him and that’s all that matters!” Mark bellowed out, seeing his chance to fully attack him at his weak state. Violently punching him and kicking him until blood began to drip uncontrollably from his nose. 

Laying, knocked out in a pool of blood, still breathing but on his last legs, Mark crouched down to him and pulled out a knife from his straps. Something he had never actually done before, was the last act. Killing someone. Because Jimmy was always the one to do this, and he wouldn’t get involved with Tommy when he would do the same. He couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly exhilarated. When he pierced the sharp cool knife into his stomach, the same place Toy was struck with. But much deeper. “A taste of your own medicine.” Mark retorted, standing up to further stomp on his stomach. Just like what the bodyguard did to Toy. 

Feeling anxious, Mark immediately began to wonder about his health. Turning around however, there was no need to rush. Because Toy was standing behind him that whole time, witnessing the hostility. 

“Toy?? Oh thank god you’re okay!” Mark exclaimed, he dropped the bloody knife onto the floor and hopped towards Toy. Who was still in pain, but speechless. With a serious expression on his face. “Toy?” 

“Love...” Toy muttered, clutching to his tightly bandaged stomach. “Y-you..love me?” 

Mark froze in his spot, gulping nervously and beginning to sweat. His heart beating furiously as Toy awaited an answer. “Umm...you heard that..” Mark murmured under his breath. 

Unexpectedly, Toy approached him slowly and gave him a warm hug. “Mark, it’s okay.” Continuing to hug each other. “I’ve always loved you.” 

His confession leaving a huge smile on his face as they both held each other, gazing up to each other. They both completely forgot that Jimmy and Tommy were still listening in on their conversation. Their reaction to this didn’t go unheard, excitedly explaining to them afterwards how happy they were for them. Soon Park and Poppy found out and joined in too, giving them both hugs. 

Jimmy and Tommy. Now Mark and Toy, the newest couple of their little group. But together they all remain the closest of friends. 

_A few weeks later_

_Jimmy’s narration_

_Their return back to Rayong was just how I expected it. We had another rooftop dinner but this one was filled with joy and laughter. I learnt of many new experiences they faced. The new business Park and Poppy had established known as The Henchmen Bros. Private bodyguard hire. Although despite it being called this, customers still tend to get confused and often think they sell items. Mark and Toy would help out with their business, but they are still looking for permanent work._

_Me and Tommy, we still help out my parents with their restaurant, collecting the various seafoods they need. We’re the same. Traveling to the same places like the beach. Tommy loves the beach. I love it too, but not as much as I love him._

_Sometimes we still wonder what it would be like if we hadn’t moved to Rayong. Would Tommy be like how he is right now? Or would he still have to cope with his psychological issues that make him a psychopath? We wouldn’t know. All I know is that Tommy doesn’t regard himself as a psychopath anymore, he may still make jokes about it. But his issues, they’re slowly disappearing. He says it’s because of me but_.. _it’s all him. Once in a while however, he would have nightmares about Bangkok. Involving his horrific memories. I convince him that nothing like that would ever happen to him again, because I would protect him._

_He would always argue to protect me but I would risk my life for him the same way. He’s my P’Tommy. I can live without him. Nor would I ever want to live without him. My life. There’s no reasons why I do not love him._

”Happy birthday my P’Tommy!” Jimmy beamed, hugging him tightly in his arms. Sitting at the beach again watching the sun settle down. 

“You’ve been saying this to me all day.” Tommy giggled, happily watching the sunset. 

“Because it’s a happy day! My P’Tommy is growing!” He cuddled Tommy in his arms, with a satisfying sigh they both watched the waves rise up and down onto the beach. 

“Everyday is a happy day, because you’re with me.” Tommy beamed, turning round to face Jimmy and pinch his cheeks teasingly. They both instead gazed into each other’s eyes, never feeling bored of each other.

“I love you, my P’Tommy.” Jimmy smiled, emotionally as he stroked Tommy’s hair and pulled his face closer to his. 

Tears forming in both their eyes, Tommy tearfully smiled back “I love you too, my precious Jimmy.” 

Jimmy pulled him more closer into an emotional passionate kiss, touching his cheek softly as they continued the loving kisses. With Jimmy planting one last special kiss on his bruised lips, Tommy blushed bright red and sat on Jimmy’s lap again to be cuddled like a baby. As they watched the final glow of the sun, leave the sky. 


End file.
